Residents raise concerns over rubbish build up

Residents living in a block of flats in a city said they were "fed-up" with "erratic refuse collections" which has caused a build up of rubbish outside their homes.

Heltwate flats in Bretton, Peterborough, are managed by Cross Keys Homes. Peterborough City Council is responsible for collecting waste, which is disposed of using a chute system outside of the building.

The authority said the vehicle that empties the underground waste collection unit is broken and being repaired, in the meantime two large wheelie bins have been in place since December last year.

Cross Keys Homes said its estate ranger team will visit the site more regularly to collect excess waste whilst the vehicle is repaired.

Gareth Lingwood, 38, has lived in the Heltwate flats since 2013.

"A few weeks before Christmas last year we were supplied with two large black wheelie bins to collect our rubbish," he said.

Mr Lingwood explained that residents usually used two metal chutes which were positioned just outside the flats, where bags and rubbish could be placed to end up in an underground collection point.

"It is obvious the bins can't cope with the amount of rubbish and there are issues with collections, they don't always come out to empty them," said Mr Lingwood.

"The rangers from our landlords Cross Keys have been out recently to clear up and previous to that they were not emptied for two weeks."

Mr Lingwood said it can be frustrating as it feels like the two authorities involved were "passing the buck", he added.

A spokesperson from Cross Keys Homes said: "Additional bins have been provided by the council as a temporary measure until such time as the lorry is returned to service. It seems that sadly, however, these are not adequate for the amount of refuse that is accumulating."

"As a gesture of goodwill, because we understand how difficult this is for our residents and whilst [Peterborough City Council] resolves this situation, our estate ranger team will continue to visit the site regularly to collect excess waste."

Angus Ellis, a councillor and cabinet member for environment and transport at Peterborough City Council, said: "We apologise to residents for the inconvenience caused by this.

"The refuse vehicle we use to empty the underground units at this address is broken at the moment and currently being repaired. As soon as this vehicle is repaired we will be able to continue collections as normal.

"In the interim, we are instead using the large 1100L communal bins. It appears that residents don't have enough of these.

"We will be in discussions with the housing provider to see if there is space for more bins to be stored, or we can collect more frequently," he added.

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