Bins Unemptied By Councils For Four Weeks

Councils have been attacked after cancelled refuse collections left piles of rubbish outside homes over Christmas for up to four weeks.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill described the piling up of rubbish over the festive period as "disappointing".

It has emerged households have gone for up to a month without their bins being emptied.

Research by The Daily Telegraph found that, on top of limited collections over Christmas, many local authorities cancelled services on health and safety grounds.

They blamed the snow.

This all happened during Christmas, with three Bank Holidays and 420,000 extra turkey carcasses to collect.

Kevin Mitchell, Birmingham city council's assistant director of fleet and waste management

Mr Neill told the paper: "We need to think again about how we maintain these basic services over the holiday period.

"People do produce a lot of rubbish over Christmas, and it is disappointing that in some cases councils haven't shown more initiative about how to ensure people still get the services they pay for."

The problem has been exacerbated by householders failing to realise that their collection days have been changed and so missing them.

Birmingham was said to be especially troubled by delays to bin collections because of a strike before Christmas.

Kevin Mitchell, Birmingham city council's assistant director of fleet and waste management, told the Telegraph: "It is a triple whammy.

"This all happened during Christmas, with three Bank Holidays and 420,000 extra turkey carcasses to collect."

Haringey council in north London has suggested people should "buy items with minimal packaging to reduce waste"

Story From SkyNews