We live on the ORIGINAL Benefits Street – we’re furious with Labour: Families on estate from Channel 4 show reveal what they think of Keir’s reforms – as star White Dee says ‘The whole area needs some care’

Locals have laid bare the misery of living on the original Benefits Street, as rodents run rampant, mattresses pile high and rubbish bins spill out onto the pavement.  

Ten years after the controversial Channel 4 documentary aired, MailOnline paid a visit to residents of James Turner Street —aka Benefits Street.

And current residents are united in their fury at the local Labour council for the ‘disgusting state’ it has been left in. 

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer has promised to crackdown on fraudsters in a fresh shake up of the benefits system.

Every few yards finds another collection of black bin bags with food waste and other rubbish spilling onto the pavement. Cats tear at the contents and where they are not patrolling, rats hold sway.

One large rodent, pictured by MailOnline, ran off with a chicken leg in its mouth as people ate their lunch on the grassy area at the top of the street.

‘White Dee’ Kelly, who starred in the Channel 4 series in 2014 before taking part in Celebrity Big Brother that same year, stopped to share her thoughts with MailOnline. 

She has been doing some community work nearby and said: ‘I have not been there for eight years. The whole area needs some care.’ 

Ahmed Raju, 48, a care home worker, who lives near a collection of hundreds of dumped tin cans, added: ‘It has been like this for a long time. The Council has not taken any action. That should be a priority for this government.

‘We are all working class people around here. Most of the houses are rented from landlords and the street is in a disgusting state.’

‘White Dee’ Kelly, (pictured) who starred in the Channel 4 series in 2014 before taking part in Celebrity Big Brother that same year, stopped to share her thoughts with MailOnline

MailOnline visits ‘Benefits Street’ aka James Turner Street, ten years after the show aired 

Locals are fuming at the piles of rubbish that has been left on the street by the local council 

A large rat can be seen scurrying away with a chicken leg in its mouth 

Cats break into the bins left on the side of the road on Benefits Street 

In his speech at the Labour Party Conference on Tuesday, Sir Keir pledged to leave ‘no stone unturned’ as his government aims to ‘rebuild our public services’. 

New laws would be introduced so that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can ask banks to report fraudulent activity, for example if a claimant has a large amount ins savings or how much they earn. 

At the moment, DWP can only request information from a claimant’s bank out if there are ‘reasonable grounds to suspect fraud’.

According to the DWP, £3.7per cent of benefit spending was overpaid last year, with £9.5billion in benefits being paid out that people are not entitled to.  

It is estimated that the move could save the government £1.6billion over five years. 

Wiam, a 28-year-old administrator at the local secondary school, told MailOnline that the benefits system was ‘not right’ and often ‘kinder’ to those who have just arrived in the country.

‘Yes, some people take advantage of the benefit system but ask yourself if you would like to pay hundreds to live on this dirty street,’ he said. 

‘What’s it all for? If you are on benefits, there is no tax, no council tax, you don’t pay rent or child care costs.

‘The benefit system is not right. It is even kinder to those who just arrive than those who live and pay into the system.

‘If you come as an asylum seeker, you can bring your family in, but if you live in this country, you can’t bring in a spouse unless you can prove you can provide for them.’

MailOnline pays a visit to James Turner Street, aka Benefits Street 

Ernie Holmes, 79, who works on the allotment on the street (pictured) 

Piles of empty cans, cartons and bottles pile up on the grass verge 

Rubbish bins have been discarded on the street by fly-tippers 

In his speech at the Labour Party Conference on Tuesday, Sir Keir pledged to leave ‘no stone unturned’ as his government aims to ‘rebuild our public services’

Shoes, beer cans and boxes are left discarded on the street 

Between properties and behind houses on James Turner Street there are signs of industrial-scale fly-tipping with furniture and mattresses piled high.

And at the bottom of the street by the railway line is a wall of rotting discarded rubbish next to a collection of hundreds of discarded beer cans. 

This is part of the Ladywood constituency of Shabana Mahmood, now the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

She narrowly held off Independent Akhmed Yakoob at the election amid claims that Labour had forgotten its roots.

Safoula Diallo, 42, a network administrator, who moved to the street just over a month ago said: ‘It is a quiet area. People are very kind and the neighbours are friendly but certain things surprise me.

Between properties and behind houses on James Turner Street there are signs of industrial-scale fly-tipping with furniture and mattresses piled high

A trolley filled with rubbish on James Turner Street 

Piles of rubbish has been left on the street while puddles form due to blocked drains 

‘I come from France and sometimes you see rubbish because of strikes but not for a whole month like this.

‘And there is a big problem with the drainage.’

On the road outside his terraced home, fallen leaves have blocked the drains causing standing water to gather in deep puddles.

Benefits Street ran for two seasons on Channel 4 and followed the lives of benefit claimants — showing them committing crimes including a demonstration of how to shoplift. 

It was highly controversial and death threats were made against residents of the street on social media. 

One retired shop steward at the local allotment, said: ‘People do not like it being called ‘Benefits Street’. It wasn’t true for everyone, far from it.

‘One man I know had to move to Manchester because he couldn’t get work because of his address and the reputation it had.’

At the top of the road, the Oasis Academy Foundry, a primary school has seen its fortunes transformed in 10 years, going from ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Outstanding’.

Cats frequently try to get into the bins, residents say, as rubbish is strewn over the street 

Mattresses, furniture, bags of sand, paint and other discarded items are left 

Nima, 30, going to fetch her daughter from the school, said: ‘It is not nice to walk along this street with your child. It’s unhygienic and it just looks uncared for.

‘You wonder just what services people are getting around here. Money needs to be spent.’

And a 49-year-old father of two and restaurant worker, said: ‘It is always like this. Some of it is down to the people who put black bags out on the street by the trees but some of it is industrial in scale.

‘People just chuck out their work stuff. The word gets out that you can do whatever on our road and it’s become a dumping ground.

‘The Council should do something – put up a camera, anything.’

What does not help is the transient nature of many of the residents on the road. Very few had lived there since the Benefit Street days.

Joanna, 54, a teacher at the local secondary school, said: ‘A lot of the fly-tipping is the result of people being in a state of flux.

Nima, 30, going to fetch her daughter from the school, said: ‘It is not nice to walk along this street with your child. It’s unhygienic and it just looks uncared for’

A 49-year-old father of two and restaurant worker, said: ‘It is always like this. Some of it is down to the people who put black bags out on the street by the trees but some of it is industrial in scale’

A large rodent escaping with a chicken leg found in one of the discarded bins 

‘They move people in like asylum seekers and those with temporary problems, and then give them very little notice when they are moving again.

‘The next people don’t want the old mattress so it gets chucked out. The Council collect it in the end but people don’t know where to complain.

She added: ‘Look at this place and tell me there is not work to do. They need to employ people. When Barclays closes, they need offices not another restaurant.

‘They need to spend some money making areas like this better. They should do twice weekly bin collections and sort this place out.’

Desmond, 44, a support worker and housing officer, was helping a young man move into one of several Homes of Multiple Occupation (HMO) on the street.

‘Most of the HMOs have a support worker attached to them,’ he said. ‘It’s to help with shopping and benefits.

‘Some have mental health problems, others are drug addicts and some are just temporary homeless after a break-up.’

He accepted that tackling long-term sickness was a real challenge.

‘If you have schizophrenia and you are on 10 tablets a day then it might not be right for you to go stack a shelf.

‘But there are a few who are playing the system. Word gets out that if you tell the doctor you got depression or you’re too anxious to get on a bus, then you’ll end up with a sick note and before you know it you’ll be on PIP payments.

‘The answer is more stringent assessments but the doctors are all under pressure because of the amount of people they are dealing with.

Ernie Holmes, 79, said: ‘My hope for the street is that the ban on no fault evictions will make a difference’

Ernie volunteers at the allotment on the street (pictured) 

‘The government has let the country go to the dogs. They will try to tackle these things but genuine people will get kicked off benefits, homelessness will go up. It’s all a mess.’

Opposite the primary school at the top of James Turner Street is a recently opened allotment, owned by the school and tended by locals.

Ernie Holmes, 79, a former Royal Navy man, said: ‘We help teach the children about horticulture. It has been a part of their recent success.

‘My hope for the street is that the ban on no fault evictions will make a difference.

‘So many of the properties are rented. If we get more stable properties, we can work with the householders to make it look better with hanging baskets and the like.

‘Volunteering at an allotment is a great way to break the ice with people. It can do people the world of good.’

Birmingham City Council has been approached for comment by MailOnline.