By Lisa CleverdonANGRY residents have condemned motorists who have been preventing their refuse from being collected by parking irresponsibly in narrow road.

By Lisa Cleverdon

ANGRY residents have condemned motorists who have been preventing their refuse from being collected by parking irresponsibly in narrow road.

A dozen people turned out on Friday to protest about the problems in Chainey Pieces in Haverhill after putting up with overflowing bins outside their homes.

Richard Spring, the West Suffolk MP, also visited the site after receiving complaints from residents, who claimed they were being missed off the council's collection round due to cars parking in the road, preventing the refuse lorry from gaining access to their bins.

Lillian Pearce, a resident of Chainey Pieces, said: "The cars double-park in Chauntry Road, which stop the lorry getting down the lane to collect our bins.

"This has been going on for far too long and something needs to be done about it. Cars park on both sides of the road and the residents would like to see one-way traffic down the road to put an end to the problem."

As a result of his visit, Mr Spring said he would be writing a letter to St Edmundsbury Borough Council.

"We cannot have a situation where my constituents' rubbish is not being collected. It is unhygienic and unpleasant for everybody and I understand on occasions the rubbish has been left for three weeks, which is totally unacceptable," he added.

"The council has said it plans to introduce smaller vans to collect the rubbish which will be able to fit down the road, but I want to see a full appraisal of the situation carried out to find out exactly what the situation is.

"The rubbish should be collected every Monday and people are fed-up with the fact this is simply not happening. Although there may not be a perfect solution to the problem, it is certainly not acceptable at the moment."

No-one was available for comment from St Edmundsbury Borough Council.

lisa.cleverdon@eadt.co.uk