'Our smelly cul-de-sac is plagued with rats after being ignored by the binmen'
Residents of a 'smelly' cul-de-sac that is reportedly ignored by binmen on collection days have claimed they are being 'treated like animals'.
People living in bungalows on Sorrel Grove in Erdington, Birmingham claim refuse collectors had been driving past without stopping for almost a month - and said nothing was being done about the problem when they asked why. The small cul-de-sac - made up of mostly Birmingham City Council properties - houses over 55s and those with disabilities. Alongside the smell, people on the road said they have also had to live with the constant sight of maggots, as well as an increase in rats.
Paul O'Reilly, 54, said the issue had caused a bad smell on the road and accused the council of treating residents 'like animals' (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)Mum-of-two Karen Davies, 55, who uses a mobility chair, said she had lived in the area for three years and never encountered issues before - but claimed bins had recently been collected just three times in 11 weeks, and believes it is happening on purpose. She told Birmingham Live: "We all have disabilities and are elderly or vulnerable. We have more rubbish than normal households due to our disabilities. The bin men know this and still avoid us.
"It's disheartening when you see them deliberately drive past our Grove on a Wednesday. It's wrong and Birmingham City Council do nothing every week when you report it." Karen described the smell in the air as "absolutely terrible", and said despite repeated pleas neighbours felt "ignored" and couldn't understand why the binmen kept driving past.
She went on: "As far as we are concerned it's discrimination against the vulnerable and disabled. We need our voices heard for once. We're paying their wages through our council tax but we're having to take our own black bags to the tip. It's disgraceful. The house just smells every time you open your front door. And it's encouraging the rats. There are more and more rats around. It's making me feel like we don't exist. It's wrong and upsetting."
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Birmingham City Council said the bins were emptied this Tuesday and there had been issues with 'inappropriate' waste being put in the regular household bins (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)Paul O'Reilly, 54, who also lives with mobility issues, added: "It's not fair for the pensioners. The council doesn't care about [us]. I've got a neighbour who can't get out. The bins are at the front of his door. The smell [is] not nice. We're human beings, not animals. They're treating us like animals. To me, they're saying 'you're old and we don't care'."
A leaked council report last year found Birmingham bin crews were "regularly" missing out entire streets. When asked about the report, former council leader Ian Ward said: "I am clear that the standard of bin collections in this city has not been acceptable. We are bringing forward a number of significant changes to the way that the service operates which will help to improve the reliability of collections across the city."
Birmingham councillor Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment, told the Mirror that bins were emptied at Sorrel Grove this Tuesday, and that issues with 'inappropriate' waste being put in the regular household bins had been reported on the street. He said: "These bins were emptied on Tuesday. Unfortunately it appears medical and other inappropriate waste has been put in the regular household waste bins, but our waste prevention team has been tasked with engaging with residents to help ensure waste is disposed of properly in future."
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