Bin contractors work overtime to frantically clear backlog of rubbish building up in Milton Keynes under new wheelie bin system

New refuse contractors from Suez are working overtime in a bid to sort out teething problems from the city’s new wheelie bin system.

MK City Council has thanked people for their patience as rubbish is piling up in certain areas that have been affected.

One street in Wolverton, Peel Road, has not had its green bins collected since August 28 – and they are now smelly and infested with maggots.

“I have reported this at least four times to MKCC but they remain uncollected,” said one householder. “As these are green bins many of them have food waste in them so during the recent heatwave it became a real health hazard.”

He said contacting the council was “challenging” and there is generally a long queue to speak to someone.

"The people on the phone are polite and helpful but it seems there’s little they can do but note it as missed.”

People in other areas of MK are still having to use black sacks as their new wheelie bins have not yet been delivered. But the problem is that the new refuse contractors are not collecting the black sacks, leaving them in piles outside houses.

The Citizen reported yesterday (Wednesday) how the sacks have been piling up for two weeks in areas of Brooklands, Broughton and Newton Leys – and they are stinking out the streets.

"The smell is horrendous, especially after the heatwave we’ve just had,” said one resident.

Many people are complaining it is difficult to make a report of missed collections online or talk to a council employee in person.

“It’s almost impossible to get through by phone,” said one resident. “I was on hold in a queue for 45 minutes – then I got cut off. It sound like the place is on chaos.”

One frustrated Broughton householder threatened to put her festering rubbish in her car and dump it at the civic offices unless something was done. It was collected within the hour, she said.

Council officers are currently out on the streets dealing with teething problems from the new system, which started on Monday September 4. They said previously they would be “learning and improving” as the weeks progressed.

A council spokesperson said: “Our crews have been working over the weekend to catch up on missed waste and recycling (black and blue) collections. If we are yet to collect your food and garden waste (green bin) please put it out on your usual collection day this week as we will be unable to attempt collection before then.

“If you need to report a missed collection please do it here. If the system doesn’t let you make a report and instead says in progress this means our contractor already knows that your bin needs to be collected and is planning to return the next working day. There’s no need to call us.”

Three different vehicles are used to collect the different coloured bins and the council is asking people to remember to specify the colour when reporting a missed collection.

“We don’t want to delay your collection and others further by sending out the wrong vehicle,” said the spokesperson.

They added: “Thank you for your patience.”