Sparkhill residents 'tearing their hair out' at missed bin collections

Chrissy Boyer said the council was fly-tipping due to its own inaction

Residents in a Birmingham street are "tearing their hair out" at being missed out for rubbish collections for the past seven weeks.

Chrissy Boyer said she and 16 other households in Fernside Gardens, Sparkhill, must use a tip or cover the bags under sheeting on their lawn.

However, the residents said that their recycling boxes had been successfully collected fortnightly.

The city council apologised and said it was urgently investigating.

Mrs Boyer, who works at Symphony Hall as a steward and as an invigilator at a school in Aston, said the latest delay was the longest yet.

Mrs Boyer and her husband Tony have to cover the rubbish on their front lawn to prevent wildlife getting access and use the tip

She said she and her neighbours in the cul de sac lived in flats and, in agreement with the council, use bin bags which should be collected on Fridays.

But she said they have had "years of problems" getting the bags collected, although recycling boxes were removed fortnightly.

"We weren't on their schedule for two years. It's like we fell through the cracks," she said.

"Then it was alright for a couple of years and now not collected for seven weeks - we see them [bin lorries] go by down the road and they do nothing here."

Neighbours Roger, Tricia, Tony and Chrissy (centre) Ozlem, Mary, Gosha say they are 'beside themselves' with frustration at waiting

She said seven of the 17 flats do not have a vehicle, so the residents struggled getting rid of their waste and when foxes have managed to get to the bags, it left a "sea of waste" outside.

The residents have written to their local councillor Nicky Brennan, council leader Ian Ward as well as local MP Tahir Ali, Mrs Boyer said, which had led to ongoing communication but not led to their rubbish being collected.

"Whatever we do we've hit a brick wall.... I could tear my hair out," she said.

"They tell you to call from 1.30pm if any there are any collection problems, but when you do everyone has gone home for the day.

"We're beside ourselves. It's never been this long before... the council are fly-tippers by their own inaction."

A spokesperson for the city council said: "We apologise for missed collections at these addresses - we know how important our waste service is to the people of Birmingham and the issue is being urgently investigated and resolved to ensure that regular collections are carried out at this location."