Bins still unemptied over two weeks since Christmas

• Edinburgh city council said the rubbish backlog had largely been cleared but the problem in Timberbush, Leith, was worse than ever yesterday, with piles of bags posing a potential health risk. Picture: Jon Savage

Councils claimed at the weekend that bin collections were running as normal and piles of refuse had largely been removed. But many people say the situation in their streets remains "as bad as ever", with some residents complaining their bins have not been emptied since the end of November.

Households from across the east coast and Central Belt have contacted The Scotsman to condemn the lack of service in their area.

The problems appear most acute in the capital, where on Saturday, the local authority said the backlog had been "largely cleared" after private contractors were drafted in to help waste services staff who had been working to rule due to an ongoing dispute over new terms and conditions.

The City of Edinburgh Council admitted it had received "isolated reports" of refuse still to be collected, but the flurry of e-mails from Scotsman readers suggests the backlog is far worse than first thought.

City councillors also said they had received "quite a lot" of complaints from constituents and urged authorities to "redouble" their efforts, while public health experts have warned councils may need to tackle the problem of rats who have been feeding on the rubbish.

One resident who contacted The Scotsman, Richard Guest, from North Merchiston, took issue with the council's claims, and expressed concern that the return of snow and ice to Edinburgh's streets might hamper refuse collections further.

"Despite what Edinburgh city council might be saying, the situation in Dorset Place remains as bad as ever," he wrote. "There has been no sign of any refuse lorry for several weeks now, and all the communal bins, as well as household bins, are overflowing with rubbish, which is spilling out on to the street."

Christine Innes, who lives in Harrison Road, Edinburgh, said: "We have communal rubbish skips in the basement of our flats which have not been emptied since the last week in November.The entire area is now piled high with black bags, some which have burst open, and is rapidly becoming a health hazard."

Stan Wilson, meanwhile, reported that, as of Saturday, some "two to three weeks worth" of rubbish remained sitting in his street, Abercorn Grove.

Green Party councillor Alison Johnstone, who represents Meadows/Morningside, said she had received "quite a lot of complaints", adding: "Six weeks after the first snow and the bin collections are still erratic. Overflowing bins are unsightly and a potential health hazard."

Presented with the complaints, a spokesman for the City of Edinburgh Council promised that the affected areas would be cleared today and asked for the public's help in identifying any remaining "isolated" cases.

Certain collections might have been missed out, he said, because private contractors "may not have been familiar" with the routes they were servicing.

He said: "The backlog from the first period of snowfall has largely been cleared, although we appreciate there may still be isolated pockets of areas still waiting on collections.

"The addresses highlighted by The Scotsman will be cleared tomorrow, and we would continue to encourage anyone with an issue about their collections to contact the council at [email protected]."

The problem of missed collections, meanwhile, is not isolated to Edinburgh. Derek Freeman said Falkirk Council had not emptied the bins outside his Bo'ness home in several weeks.

A council spokeswoman apologised over the oversignt and vowed to rectify it.

Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of microbiology at Aberdeen University, said: "The rubbish itself will worsen in smell if it's left and the weather gets milder, but alone it doesn't pose a significant health risk. It's when it's being used for feeding by rats it becomes a problem."