Streets in a London borough are overflowing with rubbish after bins were not collected for up to seven weeks leaving the ‘persistent smell of decay’.
Food waste, sanitary towels and nappies have been left strewn across roads in Croydon as fed-up residents inundate local politicians with complaints.
The disruption is linked to a new eight-year £21.5million waste contract between the council and Veolia Waste Management which began at the start of last month.
The French firm had held the previous contract and was the sole bidder for the new deal with the Conservative-led council, but the rollout has been plagued by issues.
Those paying for garden waste collection or with large amounts of household rubbish have been worst affected, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
One woman who lives above a shop in the Shirley area of Croydon, said her block had no collections for seven weeks and her neighbours’ bins were ‘overflowing’.
She added: ‘Foxes got to them and there was just food waste, sanitary towels and nappies all over the road which we ended up having to clear up.’
The resident sent in missed bin reports but claimed nothing was done, saying: ‘They kept saying we were aware of this problem, we will get it sorted. We were just told the same thing, it will get done by the end of the week, but nothing happened.’
The waste was eventually cleared but she then found 14 wheelie bins blocking her driveway, which is more than the number of bins for the flats in her block.
Labour’s Croydon Mayoral candidate Rowenna Davis said the issue posed health and environmental concerns such as an increase in rats, maggots and a ‘persistent smell of decay’.
She added: ‘The streets haven’t changed, the company hasn’t changed, and yet the service has declined, so this must just be incredibly poorly managed.’
A Croydon Council spokesperson said: ‘We are aware that some residents have experienced missed collections… and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.
‘As part of launching the new service, we have experienced some teething issues, which we are working through.
‘It remains a top priority for us and our waste contractor, Veolia, to make sure our residents’ bins are emptied on time and services are improved as part of the new contract.’
The council added that 99.5 per cent of collections last month were completed on time, and they expect services to normalise this month.
A Veolia spokesperson said: ‘Veolia is proud to work in partnership with Croydon Council to deliver essential recycling and waste collection and street cleansing services.’
The company said it completed more than 1.25million collections last month, with 99.5 per cent on time, and is clearing an average of 190 fly-tips daily.
A night-time service launched under the new contract removed 180 tonnes of fly-tipped waste last month, it added.
‘As part of the new contract, we re-routed all kerbside collections in order to improve efficiency,’ the spokesperson said.
‘We are grateful for residents’ support through their continued reporting of collection and fly-tip issues via Croydon Council’s website and for their patience during this period of adjustment.’
When the new contract was announced by the council last October, it said it would include recycling and waste collection, street cleansing and winter maintenance services.
The contract also saw a ‘dedicated night time collection service’ introduced for flats above shops and the council said Veolia would help it ‘prepare for upcoming legislation such as Simpler Recycling’.
The local authority added that investment in new technology would ‘aim to improve the energy efficiency of services whilst minimising carbon emissions and reducing costs’.
It comes as rotting rubbish is still piling up and spilling out over pavements in Birmingham despite council claims that collections are back to normal.
Refuse workers from the Unite union have been striking since March over Birmingham City Council’s proposed changes to roles and resulting pay cuts.
Striking staff have vowed to carry on industrial action indefinitely unless demands are met, with some believing it may be ongoing until Christmas.
Birmingham City Council says it has cleared 100 per cent of the large piles of waste in hot-spot areas and 85 per cent of rubbish from the rest of the city.
But grim images taken in Bordesley Green on Monday showed overflowing bins, split rubbish bags and rotting food strewn across residential streets.