The building was most recently home to My Charity Shop before that ceased trading early in 2020, since then it has been a dumping ground for trash, the site of a fire, and a hotspot for cars doing burnouts.

Nearby residents, who chose not to be named through fear of reprisal, said they had first grown concerned after the fire but were worried about the continued activity at the site.

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"My main concern is that it's a fire hazard," one said.

"There's a gas cylinder close to it and I worry about that," said another.

"The other thing you hear is cars doing donuts in there. People do donuts at 1am in the morning."

The fire occurred in June last year and the charred remains of couches and chairs remained in the building's front alcove.

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Up until late last year the property was owned by Peter Schouten and managed by his cousin Corey Schouten.

Now, with the property in the process of being sold, Corey Schouten is confident that the issue of piling up rubbish will be "resolved in the next few weeks".

"There is light at the end of the tunnel in the foreseeable future," he said.

Mr Schouten said Launceston council had notified him that the site needed to be cleaned up in the past in the past and said they continually removed built up rubbish from the site but within days more rubbish would build back up.

Launceston council chief executive Michael Stretton said, "The City of Launceston has been in discussions with the property owner and can confirm that clean-up works to the exterior of the premises will be completed within the next fortnight".

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