Households in parts of Mid Suffolk are still waiting for their bins to be emptied, a month after they were last collected with some resorting to burning waste to prevent it from building up.

Some locals have now not had their black general waste bins collected for a month since collection days were changed for 50,000 homes in Mid Suffolk on July 15, in a bid to adapt to new properties and increase efficiency.

According to Mid Suffolk District Council, 600 homes had gone without collection after the change in schedule.

Although, council officials say that this is a small fraction of the 80,000 bins that they empty every week and that refuse collectors are now working to make sure that hey are collected as quickly as possible.

Jackie Taylor, whose dad lives on the B1078 in Hemingstone, said: "My dad hasn't had his bins collected now for a month.

"We have had to burn some of it and some of his neighbours have as well. We have to be really careful because of the fields around us.

"Usually there is assisted collection, where the bin collectors walk up the drives to get the bins because we can't put them out onto the road as it is too dangerous. I wonder if this route has been given to a new crew who don't realise they need to come and get the bins themselves."

Mrs Taylor's dad has not had his recycling blue bin collected since July 11 and his general waste black bins collected since July 4.

She says that bins in the area are now building up and beginning to over flow.

"The bins are beginning to smell and there are flies building up as well," she said.

"I've reported it online and I have now resorted to calling my local councillors.

"I didn't report it after the first week, I just though that they had missed us and even the second week I didn't report it. But it has now been a month and it is becoming an issue now."

A councils spokeswoman said: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused by bin collection delays. Our crews continue to work hard to resolve any issues caused by the transition to our new collection cycles and we would encourage residents to report any missed bins via our website.

"We're also currently collecting any additional rubbish in black bags or recycling in clear sacks during this transition period."