Houses were evacuated after a cleaner found ‘radioactive’ material as he was clearing out rubbish from the home of a pair of elderly ‘hoarders.’
Officers and emergency services were called just before 7pm last night after the incident less than 100 yards from a primary school in Hammersmith, west London.
A private cleaning company had been called to empty the semi-detached house in Bentworth Road yesterday afternoon when they made the shock discovery.
The pair of workers had taken bags of rubbish to the nearby scrap dealers but when it was scanned by the tip, they were told it was ‘radioactive’ and the police were called.
The street was swarmed with specialist officers that deal with chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear incidents.
At least a dozen homes were evacuated last night, and others were told they couldn’t enter the street while their homes were made safe.
The cleaner, called George, who discovered the items told Metro: ‘I’ve was called to come and clear out the property, there is so much stuff in there.
‘Every room is filled with items; they haven’t thrown anything away for years.
‘I took one load of bin bags and rubbish to the tip and when they scanned it they said I couldn’t leave it here because it was radioactive.
‘I don’t even remember what was in them there was so much rubbish.
‘I didn’t know what to do, but I had to go back to the house.
‘One woman was 90, and she died, and the other man has been in a home.
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‘They’re hoarders, it could have been there for decades.’
He added: ‘They scanned it in the scrapyard, and anything that goes through it and beeps they don’t let you take anything in.
‘I’ve cleaned so many houses and places like this and just don’t know what is inside the place.
‘It’s a council house and you never know what you’re going to find, but someone needs to clean up the rubbish.
A neighbour spoke of his shock, he told Metro: ‘I came home and I’ve been sitting outside my house for ages.
‘Someone told me there was radioactive material in there, it is worrying now because their garden is next to my garden.
‘They were very nice people; they were serious hoarders. There place is just full you can’t even move in there place.
‘They were both really old. The old lady passed away last Christmas and he has been in a home for a few months now.
‘Nobody else was living there, I think they must have had their whole life in that house, and it looked like they never threw anything away.’
A Met police spokesperson said: ‘We were called after a person found an item they believed contained a harmful/chemical substance – it was checked and found to be safe.
‘No further action.’
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