Rat fears as yobs rip open bin bags

Yobs kicked open uncollected bin bags in a Sedgley street leaving rotting rubbish strewn across the road and near to homes.

Residents in part of Bath Street woke up to find the mess on Saturday morning.

And they were left "absolutely disgusted" after being told by Dudley Council the mess would not be cleaned up until today.

They now fear rats and other vermin may be attracted by bags left uncollected on the street which have been torn open by yobs.

Bin bags filled with rubbish have been left on streets around the borough after changes to refuse collection which permits only three bags to be collected per home.

But the scheme has been criticised as deeply flawed as most residents traditionally pile up their bags in one part of a street rather than leave them outside their homes. And some of these are not being taken as binmen cannot be sure if they are from a single property and will not risk breaking the rules, it is claimed.

Robert Gibbons, aged 40, from Bath Street, said: "All of the rubbish has been left in the road right outside my house. I phoned the council but was told it would not be cleaned up until Monday.

"It is disgusting. With the bin bags left like this and the rubbish in the road we are really concerned about it attracting rats.

"People traditionally leave their bags piled up in this part of the street to make it easier for the binmen to collect them. But because of this new rule this is not being done which is why these bags were there for people to kick around.

"I told the council about the problem and they just said I should tell my neighbours to leave the bags outside their own homes.

"But why should I have to do this? It is not my responsibility to do so.

"I think people will soon start to question what they are actually paying their taxes for."

Dozens of bags were left behind on the Priory and Kates Hill estates last week as the new restriction on bags was enforced.

Labour environment spokesman Zafar Islam says if "teething problems" persist the council should review its decision.