A disgusted South London resident claims a foot tunnel he uses every day is “full of rubbish”, with “dog or human poo” being left on the stairs for up to a week.
Ferenc Habermann, 45, has lived in Plumstead, for the past 16 years.
The local said he uses the Greenwich and Woolwich foot tunnels nearly every day for cycling and commuting to work in East London, but has had a number of issues with the Woolwich foot tunnel in recent months.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Generally, it is very dirty… It’s the same on the other side.
"Basically, the whole staircase is full of cans and rubbish everywhere.
"There was one occasion where there was some dog or human who did a c**p on the stairs. It was there for days or maybe even a week.”
Mr Habermann also said he regularly has issues carrying his bike up and down the stairs of the tunnel.
The resident claims the lift at the north entrance of the Woolwich Tunnel has been broken for the past eight months.
He said: “You would expect that it’s better maintained. In Greenwich, I know that they’ve done a lot of maintenance on the lifts, and the Greenwich [tunnel] is marginally better.
"But the other weekend we went cycling and we wanted to cross and the lift wasn’t working there either, so I don’t know what the council does.”
The Woolwich foot tunnel connects Woolwich to North Woolwich in Newham, while the Greenwich foot tunnel links Cutty Sark to Island Gardens in Tower Hamlets.
Despite both tunnels crossing the river, the two crossings are managed by Greenwich Council.
Mr Habermann said: “If you have a responsibility for maintenance then surely you can give a timeline to give some sort of assurance to the cycling community or the local community to say when it’s going to be repaired. But there’s been radio silence for eight months.”
The resident said he has been regularly tweeting about the state of the tunnels since last August but has not gotten a response from Greenwich Council since September.
Mr Haberman said the situation has been “frustrating” for him and his partner, with no update at the north entrance to say when the north lift will be repaired.
He said: “For the past two years, they have used Covid as an excuse.
"That they are short-staffed and they can’t do this, they can’t do that. Surely there must be a timeline on it.”
He added: “For us to carry the bikes up is inconvenient, but it’s not impossible.
"Obviously, it would be better with the lift, but there might be other people who are disabled or less able to walk.”
A Greenwich Council spokesperson said: “We’re sorry that the lift on the north side of the Woolwich foot tunnel is currently out of operation.
"The key parts have to be sourced from Europe and we are addressing a number of faults.
“Unfortunately the lifts at both Greenwich and Woolwich foot tunnels are vulnerable to unpredictable faults, due to their historic nature.
"We’re working hard to develop a proposal that will ensure equal access and a better lift service for all tunnel users. The tunnels both remain open 24 hours a day and the stairs are not affected.”
The spokesperson said the tunnel walkway and stairwells are cleaned on a regular basis. They also asked that residents put their rubbish in the bins found at both ends of the tunnels, and to report severe litter dumping to the council.
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