South Hams recycling: Maggots infest waiting bins

Some residents say they have been waiting up to six weeks for collections

A council rubbish contractor has apologised to householders kept waiting up to six weeks for recycling collections.

The new scheme, which replaces plastic bags of recycling with reusable plastic boxes, was introduced in South Hams, south Devon in March.

But some residents said maggots had started infesting the waste and one called it an "absolute joke".

FCC Environment said it was "working hard" to pick up missed collections.

At the launch of the new scheme, South Hams District Council said that it had been called "best in class" by "many other local authorities".

The council, which serves about 85,000 residents, now admits about 1,000 collections are being missed every week.

FCC Environment rejected claims that its vehicles were too large for some of the narrow country lanes in the area

It changed a system of collections of paper, plastic and tins in plastic bags to one with plastic boxes for paper, cardboard and glass, another container for plastic containers and tins and another for food waste.

Martyn Norsworthy from West Alvington near Kingsbridge, said: "It's an absolute joke, there have been no recycling collections for six weeks.

"All along our lane are boxes of recycling, there are maggots in the food, it is vile.

"It's a waste of so much taxpayers money, it's clear that no-one thought this through before it started."

He said people "in desperation" had started putting their recycling into grey bins for non-recyclable waste.

FCC Environment said in a statement that "this system has been far from easy to implement" and "there have been service issues for some residents for which we apologise".

It said increased volumes of waste meant that collection vehicles were having to go back to the waste depot more often than planned.

And it rejected claims that its vehicles were too large for some of the narrow country lanes.

The firm said it was "working hard to collect from residents that have been missed" and asked people, "particularly those who have had repeated missed collections, to bear with us at this time".