A couple from southeast London say their front garden has become a ‘health hazard’ after their bins were not collected for six weeks, leaving rubbish and filth strewn everywhere.
Vivian Lee, 59, and her husband Yongtae, have blamed Lewisham Council for the ‘disgusting problem’ after binmen failed to visit their home.
This has allowed rats and foxes to rip open the communal bins at 8 Hillmore Grove, a council-owned terrace of ten houses in Sydenham, the couple said.
Rubbish and faeces are now strewn across the entranceway to the block, producing a ‘sickening’ smell.
The couple, who are leaseholders, say that despite contacting the council to ask for their bins to be collected and for the waste to be cleared, nothing has been done.
Yongtae said: ‘We are living in the 21st century in London. We should not be living like this – it’s a health hazard.’
Hillmore Grove residents claim they have been battling the council for almost a year over various issues with their rubbish bins, but that the current situation was now ‘deadly serious’.
Last year, two of the four communal bins for general waste disappeared overnight and were never replaced by the council, which led to rubbish piling up.
Most neighbours in the block are elderly tenants, and struggled to move the overflowing bins onto the pavement for collection.
After the council was made aware of this issue, residents claim they were told binmen would come into the block’s rubbish area to pull the bins out.
But this never happened, meaning three consecutive bin collections, which usually take place every other week, were missed.
Vivian says she has contacted various council departments about the problem, but claims ‘nothing or no one wants to know’.
She added: ‘I feel they are just passing the buck.’
Lewisham Deputy Mayor Louise Krupski said: ‘We would like to apologise to the residents in Sydenham for the missed collection and our waste and recycling team have confirmed they will attend to ensure the bins are emptied.
‘We will continue to work hard to reduce the occurrence of missed collections as we take the responsibility of keeping Lewisham clean and healthy very seriously.
‘We will be in contact with the managing agent of the flats to ensure there are adequate bins provided for all the residents’ rubbish, both recycling and general waste to ensure this situation is resolved.’