A PENSIONER has hit out over a six-week wait to have rubbish collected from outside her home.

Will Clarke

A PENSIONER has hit out over a six-week wait to have rubbish collected from outside her home.

Olive Kellaway, 69, who is in remission from cancer and has mobility difficulties, said Babergh District Council ignored her pleas for help.

Mrs Kellaway's flat at Blackfriars, in Sudbury, is opposite the communal bin area, which she said was attracting pests, including maggots, at the height of the refuse problem.

She said: “I put two bags out a week and the lady next door has a new baby and pets so she puts out considerably more. And there are two people upstairs, one of whom is disabled and the other works shifts.

“Between us it is really difficult to take the bags out of the communal area for collection and it became quite a health hazard.

“When I had friends round it was embarrassing - I had to explain it was the bins causing the smell. There were slugs and maggots all over the bags.

“When I contacted the council they said they would get back to us but they never called back. I know one gentleman who called Babergh and four weeks later he is still waiting for a reply.”

By the time the problem was sorted out the rubbish was piled up to the height of Mrs Kellaway's neck and beyond her ability to cope with, she said.

A spokesman for Babergh said difficulties had come about because the usual system at the flats for putting bags out on the kerb for collection had broken down.

Peter Garnett, Babergh's waste strategy officer, apologised for the problems and pledged to reach a better arrangement with the landlord.

He said: “Babergh District Council would like to say sorry to Mrs Kellaway - and the other residents in the block - for the delay in removing the black bin waste from their communal area.

“Our contractors had raised concerns that unlike the other blocks of flats at Blackfriars, the bags are not being removed from the communal area and placed outside for their safe removal.

“We have now cleared all black bags and are in negotiations with the landlords to reach a mutually satisfactory solution.”