A HOUSEBOUND Corsham pensioner has complained to Wiltshire Council about her ‘stinky bin’ which has not been emptied for more than three weeks.

Doreen Stevenson, 77, says flies and maggots are crawling all over her domestic waste bin after Hills Waste failed to collect it.

She said: “It’s heaving with blow flies and maggots all over it.

“I’ve complained to Hills Waste but they still haven’t done anything about it.

“When they do come to collect it, they’ll have to hose it down because it stinks. The smell is terrible.”

Mrs Stevenson, of Hatton Way, Corsham, is housebound with leg ulcers and has bandages from her ankles up to her knees.

She uses a zimmer frame and is unable to put out the bin herself because of her physical and medical condition.

“I’m too ill and I can’t get out to do it. I’ve had 22 falls in just ten days,” she explained. “I have carers who come twice a day to treat my legs but I can’t put that burden on them and there’s no-one else to help me.”

She said that before Hills Waste took over the waste disposal contract for Wiltshire Council, the previous contractor helped to take out her bins and empty the contents.

The waste collectors are generally issued with a ‘drag out’ list of bins belonging to people who can’t take them out themselves.

But the system seems to have broken down in Mrs Stevenson’s case and the contractors have failed to come and collect it.

Mrs Stevenson’s husband, Donald, died three years ago and since then she’s had no-one to help her.

Wiltshire Council said: “Clearly, the service has fallen well below standards in this case. We are working with our contractor to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“The property has been placed on the Bin Watch system and has been flagged up with the crew. They will verify it has been emptied after each collection.”