Did eventually pull my finger out and I had a good scrub and clean around and the place is looking much better. Back to decluttering...now I really need some advice. To cut a long story short the lady down the road has recently lost her husband who was 30 stone and bed bound for the past 4 years...by all accounts all he did is order loads of stuff he was unable to use from various online retailers and shopping channels. The lady now is living in squalor and each room is floor to ceiling with junk, and new stuff in boxes. She won't let anyone in, but when I walked her back down to her house a couple of months back..I did catch a quick glimpse and yes the place is chock a block. I've offered to help her but she said the place is too shocking for words..I told her that I watch all those American shows and that there's very little that would shock me..but she insisted that this place would. She's in a bad way, drinks and smokes, has bad health herself and is very lonely. She comes to us a couple of times a week, sometimes invited...very often not, but brings beautiful flowers, bottles of wine etc etc. She's actually very good company..it's very sad she has no family nearby, no kids and has retired from work..unfortunately she has started to smell quite bad too. She was with us last night, I had to spray perfume round after she'd left and now I've got quite a nasty bite on my ankle (dunno if this is related)...don't know how I can help, especially as I work full time and don't drive..hubby drives but our car is so small it'd take about a million trips to the tip to make any inroads I'd think..Any ideas folks..she can't live like this x