Bin nightmare for residents as rubbish left uncollected for SEVEN weeks
The rubbish at William Smith House has been left by the council for the past seven weeks, said Wendy McLaughlin, a resident at the Bow flats. Picture: James McLaughlin. - Credit: James McLaughlin.
A resident living in flats in Bow claims their refuse has not been collected for SEVEN weeks forcing them to live with overflowing rubbish.
The rubbish at William Smith House has been left by the council for the past seven weeks, said Wendy McLaughlin, a resident at the Bow flats. Picture: James McLaughlin. - Credit: James McLaughlin.
Wendy McLaughlin, 50, who lives in William Smith House in Ireton Street, said despite at least 12 phone calls to landlord One Housing and Tower Hamlets Council, the rubbish has been left to pile up.
Wendy, who has lived in the two-storey block for the last 20 years, said although they have had problems before, it's never been like this.
As the weather gets warmer, all of the eight households are facing a stench.
She said: "Now, the doors are open and all the rubbish is tipping out onto the street. It looks unsightly and when the hot weather comes it's going to stink.
The rubbish at William Smith House has been left by the council for the past seven weeks, said Wendy McLaughlin, a resident at the Bow flats. Picture: James McLaughlin. - Credit: James McLaughlin.
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"It's a health hazard."
Adding that she spoke to refuse collectors herself, she said: "The dustbin man came around and I asked, 'Do you think you could empty that?' and he went, 'Yeah, yeah, I'll go up there but drove straight past it."
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This isn't the first time the block has had trouble with the bins.
Last year, Ms McLaughlin had to complain to the housing ombudsman to force One Housing to put a lock on the bin shed to stop non-residents dumping their rubbish there.
The rubbish at William Smith House has been left by the council for the past seven weeks, said Wendy McLaughlin, a resident at the Bow flats. Picture: James McLaughlin. - Credit: James McLaughlin.
Now that shed is over capacity, it's impossible to use that lock.
"We pay our £80 a month service charge to them, so it's down to them to keep the block in adequate condition and to make sure these things are done.
"I shouldn't be the one who's complaining all the time, but, if I don't do anything, it'll get worse and worse."
"I'm paying for a service I'm not getting."
The rubbish at William Smith House has been left by the council for the past seven weeks, said Wendy McLaughlin, a resident at the Bow flats. Picture: James McLaughlin. - Credit: James McLaughlin.
After being contacted by the Advertiser, One Housing has cleaned up the overflowing mess, but the council has still not taken out the bins.
A spokeswoman for the association said: "As a responsible social landlord we are committed to ensuring our homes are well maintained.
She added it is working with the council and its cleaning contractors to work out how the mess was allowed to happen.
A council spokesmann said: "Any missed collection is unacceptable.
"We will be looking into the matter with One Housing to ensure that future collections are not missed."