A PENSIONER from WGC says he has endured two years of missed rubbish collections – because contractors will not pick up bags.

Les Brownsell lives in a sheltered accommodation flat in Home Ley, WGC.

He said that contractors have repeatedly refused to take away rubbish because the bags are not in bins – even though householders are given bags, not bins, because there is a lack of storage space.

If the rubbish is not collected promptly, Mr Brownsell said foxes tear open the bags, scattering waste over the gardens and streets, making it dangerous for the elderly people who live there to walk around.

The 74-year-old retired engine told the WHT: “For anyone else this would be nothing more than a nuisance, but to us it’s more than that.

“Some people, like my 90-year-old neighbour, walk around here with frames and if they were to slip and fall it could be really serious. We love it here, everyone loves living here. But it could be so much nicer if we didn’t have all these problems with (contractor) Serco.”

When Mr Brownsell contacted the WHT to complain about the rubbish he said he had been waiting eight days for a collection and had been calling Serco twice a day to come and collect the bags.

Within two hours of telling Serco he had complained to the WHT, the firm made an unscheduled pick up.

Mr Brownsell, who has lived in WGC all his life and moved into his flat three years ago, said: “We are all reasonable people, we don’t want anything out of the ordinary.

“I moved here for a stress free life and Serco are making it anything but stress free.”

A spokeswoman from Serco said that around 300 homes in the borough used purple sacks due to lack of space.

She said: “We do have a process in place whereby on the third time within a three-month period that refuse or recycling is missed, the council will look to resolve the issue with Serco and the resident.”