The British army’s biggest base has been overrun by rats as overflowing bins, piles of rubbish and even burnt out cars are left to fester behind its gates, soldiers claim.
Shocking pictures from inside Catterick Garrison – taken just days after the latest collection was taken away – show huge piles of bin bags spilling from designated disposal areas.
Litter – which is supposed to have been collected by North Yorkshire council – lies strewn across the grass lawns under accommodation blocks, an abandoned car with smashed windows sits in a car park and officers within the garrison’s wires describe conditions as being ‘like a slum’.
Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire, is the largest British Army base in the world, housing around 13,000 people including military personnel and their families. It is where all infantry soldiers are trained and is home to units from the Intelligence Corps, the Royal Lancers, the Royal Yorkshire Regiment and the Royal Military Police.
Colonel Philip Ingram, formerly of the Intelligence Corps, today slammed the situation at Catterick as a ‘failure’ of the commanders and local council.
An officer living in the base, who spoke to MailOnline on the condition of anonymity, said: ‘There’s mountains of bin bags piling up around the camp and rats everywhere. Litter has blown literally all over the camp outside the accommodation blocks. The bins themselves are all full to the brim – and we had the people come to empty them yesterday.
‘The army prides itself on cleanliness, hygiene and discipline. This is my home. waking up every morning and having having to walk past maggots and rats and piles of rubbish. It’s just horrible.
‘Literally, the first thing that people note when they turn up here now is how poor the situation is, cleanliness wise.
‘It’s absolutely pushing people to sign off in the force. Our job absolutely has negatives but one of the benefits is meant to be life when you’re on camp but at the moment no one wants to be here.
‘We as soldiers on the camp are powerless. What do they expect us to do? Take our own rubbish to landfill?’
North Yorkshire council are responsible for rubbish collection, the Ministry of Defence said, as they revealed further pest control measures are being put in place.
The authority has blamed incorrect items being put in bins for why they have not been collected.
North Yorkshire council was one of the first in the country to sign the Armed Forces Covenant, with the Armed Forces Act 2021 enshrining into law their responsibility to help prevent armed services personnel and veterans from being disadvantaged when accessing public services.
But Col Ingram, who formerly was in command of Intelligence Corps on the base, said officers should have been putting more pressure on the council to look after their men.
He told MailOnline: ‘It’s failure in the Catterick commanders to deal with the local council and it’s a failure of support from the local council.
‘This and so many other incidences around accommodation for our troops, around the food for our troops, about the way our troops are looked after, shows that the Ministry of Defence does not care about its people.’
An MoD spokesperson said: ‘We are urgently working with the Council, which is responsible for collecting rubbish from the base, so that collections can be made and to ensure a high-quality living and working environment for our personnel.
‘In the meantime proactive pest control measures are in place on the site and we are dealing with any issues as they arise.’
It comes as Catterick Garrison faces intense scrutiny after a series of incidents from officers at the base.
Earlier this month, Staff Sergeant Andrew Oakes, who was in charge of a pre-signed military cheque book, was locked up after it emerged he stole almost £350,000 from the army to buy three Tesla cars, a hair transplant and ‘adult services’.
An investigation revealed that the defendant had used 125 cheques between December 2023 and May 2024 to drain £336,448 from the MOD’s coffers while he was serving in the 2nd Infantry Training Battalion.
And last week the widow of a father-of-three soldier who lay decomposing in barracks for three weeks has blasted the Army for the ‘unforgiveable’ delay in finding his body.
Lance Corporal Bernard Morgan was discovered on January 23 2020 in his bedroom at Catterick Garrison following a prolonged period of ‘degrading’ by senior officers which involved him being ‘shouted, screamed and swore at’.
A senior coroner ruled it was ‘not possible to determine’ whether L/Cpl Mongan died from suicide or natural causes and recorded an open conclusion.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for managing our environment, Cllr Richard Foster, said: ‘We understand the concerns raised at Catterick Garrison and the impact the current situation is having on the daily lives of our servicemen and women and will be revisiting the site this week.
‘We are committed to finding a solution and are working closely with the Ministry of Defence to do so.
‘We have encountered issues where incorrect items have been placed in bins put out for collection and this has meant they have not been able to be taken away.
‘We would encourage all residents to dispose of their waste correctly. This includes using the correct bins for different types of waste, recycling whenever possible, and ensuring that bins are properly closed when placed for collection.’
