That is the question on the lips of Brooklyn residents who share a boundary with the former primary school owned by the mayor in his capacity as a private businessman.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said over the last couple of weeks large piles of rubbish have been trucked to and dumped on the vacant land behind the school.

Mr Kons disputed it had been there that long, and said the rubbish had only arrived in the last week and he had already engaged a contractor to remove it by Friday.

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The neighbour's concern was that, although it is indeed private land, it is a commonly used thoroughfare and could be dangerous to children and animals.

"He needs to have it blocked off, fenced, or better still he should get rid of it," the neighbour said.

"If we lived next door to his home and we were doing the same thing it wouldn't be acceptable."

Mr Kons was asked if he would deem it acceptable if a neighbour of his was using their property as a rubbish dump, but he said that was hypothetical.

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"We're cleaning up the school building. I'm just storing stuff there for the time being and I've got a contractor engaged to remove it.

"It's just plasterboard and timber, and a few mattresses. It is trade waste.

"I thought we may as well put it all in one spot. It's not close to anybody's house."

The neighbour, however, thinks the mayor should set a better standard for waste management, and that the unsightly mess should not have been dumped there in the first place.

"Are the council fees for dumping too expensive for the mayor?" they asked.

In the meantime, Mr Kons said that if people were using the Brooklyn property as a thoroughfare they were trespassing.

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