We’ve been stuck with MOUNTAINS of rotting rubbish outside our home for seven weeks – now we’re plagued with rats
RAGING residents have described being stuck with MOUNTAINS of rotting rubbish outside their house for seven weeks.
And neighbours now claim swarms of RATS have descended on their homes to feast on the rotting trash.
The council has apologised for the delays - and said rubbish will be collected "as soon as possible".
But residents of Squarefold in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, said they have been submitting new complaints every week - yet nothing has changed.
District nurse Sam Elsworth, 25, told the Sun: "We’ve been here for 12 months and for nearly two months from the start of May our bins were not emptied.
"It’s shocking that for seven weeks nobody bothered to collect the rubbish here – it never happened in our previous address and Kirklees Council are being paid for the collection, but simply not doing their job.
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"It’s so smelly and they are attracting the rats.
"We have been told to complain every week, but surely complaining one week should be enough for the job to be done.
"It’s not the binmen – it’s the management.
"So for seven weeks we are complaining and nobody is listening, it’s appalling.
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"They emptied most of the bins, but the man in the corner property has left and they didn’t empty his bin.
"It really stinks, so the new people now have a bin full of rubbish."
The owner of a nearby property explained that rats had gnawed through the bottom of one of his bins.
Sam’s neighbour Rachel Wright, 55, a company secretary, said: "It was the beginning of May when they last came on the Bank Holiday.
"Then no show for seven weeks."
The residents of Squarefold spoke out after neighbours on nearby roads complained about their four week waits for rubbish collection.
Neville Smith, 79, who lives on nearby Botany Lane, said: "It’s not rocket science, anyone with half a brain should be able to work out the rota to ensure the bin collection is done correctly.
LOAD OF RUBBISH
"They collected the bins on Monday about 100 yards away from us, but the next day I called to complain and the man on the end of the phone said they had collected 79 per cent of the bins on the round.
"Now the problem is that two weeks before they probably also collected 79 per cent of the bins, but if they had used common sense and collected the bins the other way round, then we would not have been four weeks between bin collections.
"It’s not the fault of the workers – it’s the management, or rather lack of it – it’s so obvious how it could be simply partially remedied.
"We all had mountains of rubbish, but ours wasn’t so bad until someone put in an extra bag of rubbish.
"It was ridiculous that they would come up and empty the green bins and then leave the grey ones stinking outside everyone’s property."
His neighbour Alison Slade, 82, a retired teacher in further education, said: "It really is inexplicable that they cannot bother to communicate with the residents.
"They only come once a fortnight, so missing any round means the rubbish bins are full.
"It really is ridiculous that they cannot communicate what is happening.’
Neighbour Wanida Hobbs, 42, said: "The flies were always there and when I open the door – they fly in.
"I’ve lived here a couple of years and this has happened probably a dozen times.
"It’s very wrong as people are paying the council for the collection service and it’s not happening."
Councillor Naheed Mather, cabinet member for environment at Kirklees Council, said six streets in Lepton are currently experiencing similar issues.
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She said: "We are aware of combined issues with regards to grey bin collections on approximately six streets in the Lepton area and are working hard to find solutions.
"We apologise for any convenience caused to residents and a refuse collection team will collect the grey bins as soon as possible this week."
