Stinking bins are emptied at last

HORRENDOUS smells, maggots and rubbish piling up in the streets made the lives of Oldham residents miserable after bins remained uncollected for more than four weeks.

Following the national strike involving council workers on Thursday, July 10, waste collections on that day were cancelled, leaving waste to pile up for another two weeks, particularly in the Limeside area.

However when the waste was still not collected last Thursday, a further two weeks later, residents were left with huge amounts of rubbish at their homes.

One concerned resident from Higher Lime Lane said: “There are maggots everywhere and no doubt the cats and foxes are going to rip the black bin liners open, spilling rubbish everywhere.

“It is the school holidays and children have to play among this filth — you try telling an eight-year-old they can’t play out in the height of summer.

“The smell is horrendous and it looks like the aftermath of a festival.”

A spokesman for Oldham Council said that the waste has now been collected and services will return to normal following the strike.

The spokesman added: “Extra teams and more vehicles have been out in the past week to tackle fly-tipping and the backlog of waste bins to be collected in different areas.

“All waste bins have now been collected, however we have had very few complaints from the public.”