Rubbish piles up as city bin lorries taken off the road

RUBBISH is piling up on streets across the city after five of the council's bin lorries broke down.

The problem has affected all areas where large communal black bins are used and the delays are expected to continue for at least another week.

The council only has seven lorries that can lift and empty the giant bins, and pick-ups are usually carried out twice a week.

But with five of the vehicles sent for unplanned repairs in recent days, understood to relate to their lifting mechanisms, rubbish is not being collected as often.

The Evening News has been told about problems with overflowing bins in Polwarth, Dalry, Marchmont and Morningside.

Council chiefs today said they were using the two remaining lorries to carry out as much work as possible, while vehicles designed to handle individual green bins are also being deployed.

But because these lorries cannot lift the giant containers, workers are picking up bags and reaching into bins as far as they can to remove rubbish by hand. Street cleansing staff have also been asked to step in.

A council spokeswoman said: "It is unfortunate that five out of the council's fleet of side-loading refuse collection vehicles are off-road for essential maintenance at the moment.

"This has meant that on-street communal bins are not being emptied as frequently as scheduled.

"We would like to reassure residents that we have put in extra resources to clear up the backlog of refuse and that every effort is being made to ensure that all refuse still awaiting collection is picked up as soon as possible."

Retired bus driver Christopher Fentiman, 73, from Polwarth Gardens, said it was "illogical" for five lorries to be out of service at the same time.

"Rubbish is lying on the pavement around here," he said. "We usually get our rubbish picked up twice a week, but I haven't seen any collection in the last week."

Jane MacLean, 30, a nurse from Caledonian Road, added: "The situation this week has quite frankly been absolutely disgusting.

"Where my street meets Dalry Road, there are about six bins, three on each side of the road.

"Their lids are almost vertical as they are brimming with so much rubbish. It smells, looks repulsive and is surely a health hazard.

"I had a friend visit Edinburgh this week for the first time and this is what he had to walk past as we headed for my flat. I was embarrassed. It looks so unsightly, particularly further down the road where some of these bins sit outside a restaurant. It's certainly not what I would want to look at if I was eating."

Refuse collection services were hit earlier this month by a one-day strike, and members of the Unite union – which represents binmen – are now planning to work-to-rule in the coming weeks, which is expected to cause further delays.