Uncollected rubbish in West Bromwich leads to rat infestation

Rubbish bags have not been collected from an area of West Bromwich for three months, leaving the area infested with rats, maggots and flies, residents said today.

Around 100 bags of rotting rubbish are piling up at Scott Close which serves around 19 properties. Resident Tony Hooper said the situation is now "beyond a joke" and called on the council to collect the waste. Father-of-three Mr Hooper, aged 31, says Serco, responsible for carrying out collections in the borough have failed to collect rubbish since April.

Mr Hooper, a carer, who has lived at the property for two-and-a-half years with partner Leanne Vincent, 24, said: "The last time it was collected was three months ago.

"I have had pest control come round and we have got rats.

"At first they said it was because we don't have wheelie bins, so we ordered the wheelie bins and they are supposed to collect the rubbish every week and then they stopped and nobody came.

"They said put the bins on the front car park and they were there for three weeks and nobody took them so we took them out the back to get them out of the way."

He added: "We have got maggots in the bins, flies everywhere, you can't even open a window because there are flies coming in.

"There are rats just running about and the smell just stinks. It's really bad that the collections aren't being carried out.

"It is beyond a joke."

Cabinet member for neighbourhood services Councillor Ian Jones said the site has since been cleared.

He added: "Unfortunately there also appears to be an issue with fly tipping which has significantly added to the problems. But we are now confident that the residents should have no further issues with collections."