Overflowing bins '“ residents vent anger against 'disgraceful' council

The council’s recycling and refuse team has been struggling to deal with the volume of complaints, leaving angry callers on hold and queries on its social media accounts unanswered.

Laura Walker, of Addison Road, said: “The service is disgraceful. You can never get hold of anyone on the phone or via social media for an explanation and all they are saying on their twitter page is that it’s due to the recent weather which was understandable at first but now it just seems to be a silly reason."

Residents are unconvinced by the council’s excuse of February's snow delaying collection.

“This isn't the first time that collections have been late or missed - its a regular occurrence but they always have an excuse e.g. short staffed, weather," said Miss Walker.

“The streets look a mess, the bins and recycling are overflowing, this gets blown down the street, then it encourages seagulls and rats.”

Rev Martin Poole, whose church St Luke’s Prestonville is on the corner of Stanford Road and Old Shoreham Road, said the communal refuse and recycling bins are almost always completely full.

“Most Sundays for me begin with an early morning clear up of the rubbish that has overflowed onto the pavement over the weekend so that people are simply able to walk along the pavement, this is especially dangerous when the glass bin is full,” he said.

A council spokesperson said: "Missed refuse and recycling collections, including the current backlog, have been caused by the recent weather conditions plus a number of our vehicles breaking down over this period.

"We've been working hard to clear the current backlog, and some of our crews were out over the weekend and, where possible, extra crews will be going out this week.

"All refuse and recycling should be collected by this Sunday and we hope to be back to normal by Monday."