He says landlords in Leeds's student heartland should be brought to book over the rubbish.

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Kirkstall Councillor Bernard Atha is adamant that student landlords, like any other businesses, should foot the bill for disposing of non-household waste from their properties.

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Piles of rubbish, furniture and domestic utensils have been discarded on the footpaths outside hundreds of properties in Kirkstall and Headingley as students move out at the end of term, leaving the homes looking untidy and neglected.

Coun Atha is calling on those landlords concerned to start giving greater concern to local residents and dispose of their rubbish in a responsible manor.

He said: "Today parts of Headingley and Kirkstall look like the slums of Third World countries as landlords dump enormous piles of rubbish on the pavement.

"All other businesses have to pay for their business rubbish to be cleared.

"Landlords of students are running a very profitable business. When the student year ends the landlords simply tip their rubbish onto the street and expect the rate payers to pick up the bill. This could be
well in excess of £100,000 per year.

"Landlords should be treated like any other business and made to meet the cost of clearance. They should be prosecuted for dumping rubbish like this in the street. Imagine the cry of outrage if such dumping occurred in their street.

"They should be sued for the cost of removal.

"We should not blame the Universities or the students. Why should the rate payer of Leeds have to pay for this?

"The landlords who make a good living out of students should be made to pay the cost of clearing up," he said.