Recycling not collected for almost four weeks from 70 houses in Northampton

People living in Ullswater Close, off Booth Lane South, have been placing their cardboard glass and plastic optimistically at the kerbside since September 4.

Not only have they had to pile their waste into the obsolete recycling boxes - as the new blue-top bins have not yet been delivered - none of it has been collected.

Chrissie Timson, aged 33, said: "You get massive green and blue flies buzzing around in the warm weather.

"And on the windy days the whole street looks a complete mess. We're all chasing round picking it all up.

"What's more is we've been faced with 40-minute waits to speak to Northampton Borough Council about it.

"It's not good enough, we've paid our council tax but we aren't getting what we've paid for."

What is puzzling Ullswater Close residents is that general rubbish bins and brown garden bins have been collected.

And leaflets were pushed through their letter boxes setting out when the recycling bin lorries were due to call round.

"We're a relatively new street, I suppose, but some of the houses were built 18 months ago. We've never had a problem before September."

A spokesman for the borough council said that anyone who has not yet received their recycling bin can continue to use the boxes or put their recycling out in clear or white plastic sacks.

Although it has not worked so far for Ullswater Close residents, missed collections can be reported by clicking here.The council said Ullswater Close recycling has now been successfully reported a collection should be made well before the next scheduled date of October 9.

Addressing the lack of blue-top bins, Councillor Mike Hallam, Northampton Borough Council Cabinet member for environment, acknowledged there are several more Northampton streets where the new bins had not yet arrived.

He said: “There are invariably hiccups during the roll-out of any new service in a town of our size and we can only apologise to those who are still awaiting delivery of their new recycling bin.

“The service change has been extremely well received so far, with recycling separation no longer necessary and the removal of weekend collections, and we’re sure that once things have settled down everyone will see the benefits.

“I’m really grateful for everyone’s patience and support, and for all the positive comments we’ve received so far about the service our new contractor is providing.”