Entire street warned over rubbish bags next to bins

A street in Northampton has been told its rubbish need to be wheelie bins not left on the road

A council has issued a warning to an entire street over excess bags of rubbish left next to bins.

West Northamptonshire Council issued the "section 46 notice" to about 100 household on Harefield Road in Northampton.

It asked householders to correctly present their rubbish for collection, but one resident said the street was being unfairly treated.

The authority said the notice would allow it to take action against those who "ignore the rules".

West Northamptonshire Council said the sacks were reguarly being left on the ground

The council sent the notices to all residents of the street, which is on the Blackthorn estate.

The letter asked residents to put their rubbish in the wheelie bins provided and not in black bags on the ground next to the bins, or elsewhere.

It said "further action" might be taken if the rules were not followed.

'Regular problems'

Mary, who did not want to give her surname, has lived in the estate for 26 years and said rubbish bags had not been an issue until recently.

She said the rubbish left on the streets was mostly from people from outside the area.

"Every week, someone goes round and fly-tips; it's someone doing a garden job or house removal and dumping it, and it's not necessarily people that live here that's actually doing the fly-tipping," she said.

Fly-tipping was also an issue on Harefield Road, residents said

The council said it only served section 46 notices "at locations where we are having regular problems with households not presenting their waste correctly".

A spokesman said in the case of Harefield Road it "related to extra sacks of rubbish being left by the side of black bins".

"By serving this notice it allows our officers to then proceed with enforcement action against any properties which continue to ignore the rules," he said.