SIR – I am writing this email to hopefully pass on the anger and disgust we residents of Hatfield feel over the refuse collection problems we have had in the last six weeks.

Two weeks before Christmas we had some snow and we are all fully aware of the backlog the council had with regards to collecting.

We spoke with the council who assured us that it would be picked up before Christmas. This never happened.

At the time of writing (January 19) we still haven’t any refuse, glass, paper bins or garden waste collected.

The piles left outside are now waste high, the bins are overflowing and the garden bins overloaded.

The excuses we have had are that due to the icy weather they have been able to get down our roads.

A poor excuse as the snow and ice had left our road for quite some time.

We all live of off the main road of Oxlease Drive, just a 30 second walk from where the bags are left for collection. So why haven’t they parked on the main road and walked for 30 seconds with our rubbish?

‘We don’t know sir, but someone will come out and sort the problem for you’.

Still nothing.

Not being able to get down our roads doesn’t seem to be a problem for other deliveries or from the supermarkets.

We are only about 60 houses which surround a small green with many different entry points; any one of them has been accessible for collections.

As we live near woods, we are obviously prone to fox problems as well as the usual cat problems and the bags get split within a day of being outside. The rubbish and food waste is everywhere.

Some of us have to walk the green ourselves with our own bin bags picking up litter which is what the council should be doing.

So what has happened to the council tax we have been paying over this period?

Do we get a refund? I doubt it very much.

Have we had any help with our problem to date by anyone? No.

We requested someone from management level come out at access the situation. Has anyone come? No.

The photo I have attached is a shot of a pile of rubbish on Saturday, January 16. It is still growing. Please note that this is only one pile out of six.

Not included in the photo are the overflowing recycle bins outside of everyone’s houses.

I’m not sure how to end this letter apart from telling you that this is sucking the life out of the small community that we have.

It’s depressing, embarrassing and is making a lot of people unhappy.

John Mason,

via email