Residents at a town centre block of flats say they were left a rat problem after six weeks with no bin collections.

The bins outside the flats at Phelps Parade, in Calne, reportedly remained unemptied for over a month, causing rubbish to overflow at the stairs to the apartments.

Douglas Johnson, who has lived in the area for nearly a year, says the piles of rubbish were beginning to give off a strong stench, while he also claims to have seen evidence of rats living in the bins.

He said: “It has stunk in there for the last few weeks. We’ve got rats getting into it because I’ve seen the tracks, and it just smells… especially in this weather because it’s so hot.

“When people came to collect the bins they said there was too much rubbish, but that’s because they’ve been leaving it to build up.

“It’s not good environmentally, I walk up my stairs and it just stank because there’s too much rubbish that hadn’t been shifted.”

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: The unemptied bins at Phelps Parade last weekThe unemptied bins at Phelps Parade last week (Image: Douglas Johnson)

Mr Johnson added that the situation has caused anger amongst tenants in the flats, with many unsure how to get in touch with the council to voice their concerns.

“They make it damn awkward to get through to anybody”, he added. “Everyone is complaining but nobody seems to be able to get anything done.

“It needed to be sorted out, but how long is it going to be before it happens again?

“A lot of elderly people live in the flats, and they don’t want this hassle, and I don’t want the hassle of rats.”

Wiltshire Council explained it had been unable to carry out bin collection until the overflow had been removed by the building’s landlord, GreenSquareAccord.

This was finally carried out on Thursday, May 25, and the council claim contractors arrived the following day to empty the bins.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: The unemptied bins at Phelps Parade last weekThe unemptied bins at Phelps Parade last week (Image: Douglas Johnson)

Cllr Nick Holder, cabinet member for waste, said: “We were made aware of the situation at Phelps Parade regarding the non-collection of waste bins last week and we have been working with our contractors and the landlord, GreenSquareAccord, to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.

“GreenSquareAccord sent out a team to clear the large amount of waste that has been left around and on top of the bins which prevented our contractors from accessing the bins to empty them. Our contractors will be returning to empty the bins.”