A “mountain of rubbish” has had to be cleared with an emergency collection because council dustcarts couldn’t get through Boris Johnson’s ‘super cycleway’ roadworks.

The vehicles were blocked by roadworks for London’s new cycle route along the A11 at Mile End, cutting off a side turning off the Mile End Road, according to Mile End Old Town Residents’ Association.

Construction for the Mayor of London’s segregated ‘blue lane’ left Tower Hamlets council rubbish collections unable to get through to Eric Street which is also permanently blocked off at the other end.

Something TfL “didn’t plan for but should have” was how the council could collect refuse from businesses and houses, the association said.

It led to “piles of rubbish not seen since the three-day week” back in the 1970s, the association’s newsletter pointed out.

The ‘mountain’ had gradually got higher over several days, until council cabinet member Joshua Peck was alerted who arranged an emergency collection.

But the missed refuse collection has puzzled TfL, who told the East London Advertiser that they hadn’t blocked off Eric Street—they left a gap wide enough for dustcarts that “even a London bus” could get through.