Waste not collected 'for months' from city flats

Residents at a block of flats in Derby say they have not had their rubbish collected "for months", leading to overflowing bins.

People living in Friar Gate Court told the BBC they felt "embarrassed" when people visited because of the household rubbish, food waste, nappies and bedding left piling up outside.

Derby City Council said collections had been suspended due to the unsafe state of the bins at the privately-owned block but it was working with the Amplius, the housing association responsible for the flats, to resolve the situation.

Amplius said it believed the problems had been caused by non-residents accessing the bin area but security measures were being implemented.

Darren Wilmot, who has lived in the flats for seven years, said he had never seen the situation get so bad.

"It's just the smell and it's just embarrassing when people come to visit you… I don't really want people coming round because they probably think that's how you live," he told the BBC.

Wilmot also said he was aware of some residents having issues with mice in their kitchen and had seen rats around the bins.

He said he had reported the waste multiple times to Amplius but was reluctant to report it anymore because "they don't seem to do anything" and "you don't get anywhere with it".

Wilmot added he would "move tomorrow" if he could.

Roy Thomas has lived in the block for nearly twenty years and said "there isn't a word" bad enough to describe the smell of the rubbish.

The 64 year-old said he was worried about rats entering the block and his apartment, adding the move to fortnightly collections a couple of years ago had worsened the problem.

Thomas said having the waste outside his home makes him want to move and he had seriously considered leaving the flats as it was no longer the "nice, clean area" it once was.

In a statement, Derby City Council said it "recognises the impact" this is having on residents.

"Collections were suspended because the area was assessed as unsafe for our crews," it said.

"Friar Gate Court is a privately managed property, and responsibility for the provision and maintenance of the bin stores and waste management arrangements rests with the property management company, Amplius."

"We have met with Amplius and agreed a number of actions that need to be completed before collections can safely resume, including improvements to the waste storage area and the replacement of bins.

"Once these actions have been completed, we will review the site and work towards reinstating collections as soon as it is safe to do so."

Amplius said it wanted "customers to live in clean and tidy communities".

"We believe that some of the issues here may be because of non-residents accessing bin stores," it said.

"Since becoming aware of the issues, we've been working proactively to address them and improve the situation for residents."

"We've started the process of providing new bins with lockable lids and locks for the bin stores to better meet the needs of the site – we hope to have these soon. We've also removed fly-tipped items and rubbish several times.

"We'll continue to work closely with the council, other partner agencies and our customers to implement longer-term solutions to the problem."

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