Bins 'not emptied for 11 weeks'

Homes have gone 11 weeks without bin collections on a busy road which is being dug up for a new red route, families claimed today.

Brown bins full of garden waste have not been emptied for up to three months, say residents living on the A454 Wolverhampton Road in Birchills.

The road, which links Walsall town centre to the M6, is undergoing a £1.8 million scheme to create a no-stopping red route, and it is claimed cones are stopping binmen completing their rounds.

Walsall Council said it was looking into claims that, despite repeated phone calls from householders and councillors, some bins were not being emptied.

Martin Cowley, aged 43, an engineer, said: "It's a ridiculous situation for them not to have emptied ours for 11 weeks.

"It's been a bit of a headache having the roadworks on our doorsteps and it would help if the council met us halfway. A number of us have been putting out the brown bins, but they have not been collected.

"I've rung Street Pride numerous times to ask them to come and empty the brown bins, but no joy."

Councillor Harbans Sarohi, of Pleck ward, said: "I have spoken to the administration manager at Street Pride and was told the brown bins would be emptied last Wednesday and it was not done. When I phoned again to find out why, I was told there was no record of any complaints.

"I will be asking again for it to be done as a matter of urgency, it's not fair on the residents."

Double red lines are yet to be painted along the road, where the red route is due to be operational within a couple of months.

This section of the borough's £1.8 million red route scheme is expected to be up and running by Christmas.