The British Army’s largest base has been branded a health hazard by its own soldiers, who say it has been overrun by rats, littered with overflowing bins, and blighted by fly-tipping and burnt-out cars, despite repeated complaints and clean-up attempts.
Shocking images from Catterick Garrison, home to around 13,000 service personnel and their families, show mountains of bin bags spilling from waste areas, smashed-up abandoned vehicles rusting in car parks, and maggots and litter scattered across lawns and paths under accommodation blocks.
A serving officer, speaking anonymously, told Reports:
“There’s rubbish everywhere. The bins are overflowing even after collection, and rats are running around the place. This is meant to be our home, but waking up to maggots, rats and stinking bin bags is just horrible.”
The officer added:
“It’s pushing people to sign off from the forces. Life in camp is meant to be one of the few perks of military service, but right now, no one wants to be here. We’re powerless. What do they expect us to do, take our own rubbish to landfill?”
The responsibility for waste collection lies with North Yorkshire Council, not the Ministry of Defence (MoD), though the situation has reignited longstanding concerns about the standard of living provided to British troops on domestic bases.
A spokesperson for the MoD confirmed the issue is being addressed:
“We are urgently working with the council, which is responsible for collecting rubbish from the base, to ensure regular collections and to maintain a high-quality living and working environment for our personnel. In the meantime, proactive pest control measures are in place.”
A Base Under Pressure
Catterick, often referred to as the beating heart of the Army, is the training ground for all infantry soldiers and home to several regiments, including the Royal Lancers, Royal Yorkshire Regiment, Intelligence Corps, and Royal Military Police.
But this latest controversy is just one in a series of troubling headlines surrounding the base.
Earlier this month, Staff Sergeant Andrew Oakes was jailed after stealing nearly £350,000 from the Army using a pre-signed cheque book. The funds were spent on three Tesla cars, a hair transplant, and adult services. Oakes wrote 125 fraudulent cheques between December 2023 and May 2024 while serving in the 2nd Infantry Training Battalion.
Just days later, scrutiny intensified again following an inquest into the tragic death of Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan, whose decomposing body lay undiscovered in his barracks room for three weeks in January 2020. His widow described the delay in discovering his body as “unforgiveable”.
‘A Total Failure of Leadership’
Colonel Philip Ingram, a former Intelligence Corps commander at Catterick, slammed both local authorities and Army leadership over the latest scandal.
“It’s a failure of the Catterick commanders to deal with the local council, and a failure of the council to uphold its obligations,” he said. “The wider issue is that this, and other recent incidents, show the Ministry of Defence simply does not care enough about its people.”
North Yorkshire Council, one of the first authorities to sign the Armed Forces Covenant, is legally obliged under the Armed Forces Act 2021 to ensure service personnel and veterans are not disadvantaged when accessing public services, including waste collection.
At the time of publication, the council had not provided a comment.
