Rubbish makes woman prisoner in own home

Rachels Mum, Catherine Woods 85, can only access her basement flat by a chair lift and wheelchair, exiting the property through a gate in her garden and down the adjoining alley, which Rachel says since the change in bin collections from weekly to fortnightly has been, "almost constantly blocked with black bin bags full of rubbish, sometimes crawling with maggots".

Rachel is finding the whole situation extremely stressful. She said: "There's no way we can get Mum out. It's supposed to be a two weekly collection service but it's been over three weeks since the rubbish was last collected from Mum's - which, apart from the fact that we can't get her in and out , is putting her life at risk."

She added: "When the rubbish was collected on a weekly basis there was no problem and, although there was some mess left after the bin men had been, myself or my daughter or another neighbour would keep it all under control and we'd sweep up the debris - it was manageable. Since they've started the fortnightly collections they are just not picking it up at all."

Prior to the two weekly collections three of the 10 flats in the block were vacant, now all the flats are occupied but there's only a total of a three wheely bins for all the 10 flats to use, which means that once the bins are full it leaves residents with no alternative but to pile the black bags on top of them.

Catherine's Granddaughter, Catherine Leary, also a resident of the Sea Road flats, said it had been three or possibly four weeks since the rubbish had last been cleared and she has made a total of eight calls to Rother council asking them to go round and clear it all away.

Rachel said: "Eventually, after many calls from my daughter they came and took the rubbish in stages, but they didn't take it all at once, they took a bit, then the next day they came and took a bit more."

This isn't the first time this has happened, Catherine and Rachel said the massive pile of rubbish has been an on-going problem since the change in collections began.

On another occasion, after Catherine had constantly complained to the council she said: "Eventually one man came round on his own around midnight, in a skinny little truck, he took some black bags but not even half of it. The following day a couple more men came in a bigger truck and took the rest of it, but this was only after I'd continually rung the council and complained."

What's even more frustrating for Rachel is that she is also a resident of Sea Road, living on the opposite side of the street to her Mum, and has not encountered the same problems with her own collections.

She said. "A couple of days ago they were down this street collecting the rubbish and mine was taken. Later I came over to Mum's and was amazed to find that they had left all this mess here yet again! They are just not picking up."

In addition Rachel is concerned that the pile of black bags, which are often torn open, smelling and crawling with maggots and sited so close to Catherines home, is putting her already frail health at even greater risk.

She said: "Mum has heart problems and Emphasemia and is on oxygen all night and a nebuliser. Myself and my daughter care for her and I've been so worried about the situation that yesterday I rang the environmental health but they said it has nothing to do with them. My Mum has an appointment with the Doctor tonight but I can't get her out. Mum is now frightened to have her patio open incase rats or mice come in, it's getting beyond a joke."

Rother Head of Amenities Madeline Gorman said: " Having investigated the situation we have established that excess bags of waste were left obstructing the rear gate by residents in the other flats at this property. The bin area at the rear of this property is quite small and cannot accommodate ten wheeled bins for the ten flats at this address. We have removed the bags obstructing the rear access and shall attempt to identify the managing agent for the property to discuss whether additional bin storage can be arranged."