Councillor fills own taxi with rubbish after complaints from residents

Altaf (Tiger) Patel said he was called to the back alleyways of Ripon Street and Pringle Street this week after householders said their burgundy bins had not been collected. He said this was due to 'roadworks restricting trucks from accessing the area'.

The council confirmed that crews had tried on 'two occasions to gain access, and both occasions parked vehicles stopped access, with the crew leaving fresh bags and notes at the affected properties'.  The council added they would be moving this back alley to a 'collection point scheme' where bins would have to be moved to particular ends of the back street.

Mr Patel, the Conservative councillor for Audley and Queens Park said: “There were some road works which meant that the alleyways were not accessible.

“Unfortunately, the burgundy bins were not collected when they should have been.

“With bin collections every two weeks the rubbish is beginning to pile up.

“There is a lot of bad smells coming from all the refuse. I have been told this won’t get collected until next Wednesday.

Cllr Patel said he decided to dispose of some of the recycling bags himself, “I wanted to help out and clear some of the rubbish so picked up 25 recycling bags in my own car.

“Three other residents also assisted me and packed 15 bags each into their own cars and disposed them at the recycling centre.

“I would urge Blackburn with Darwen Council to change the rota and collect the bins as soon as possible. This amount of rubbish may attract rats.”

Tony Watson, Head of Environment at Blackburn with Darwen Council said: “Our crew last week, and in previous weeks, have been unable to get on to this backstreet due to parked vehicles.

"Last week the burgundy bin crew tried on two occasions to gain access, and both occasions parked vehicles stopped access, with the crew leaving fresh bags and notes at the affected properties, as per the Council’s policies on restricted collections.

“Crews and staff attended the collection at Pringle and Ripon Street back on Wednesday this week and pulled the grey recycling bins to the end of the back street for collection, as parked vehicles were again blocking access, although a number of the recycling bins were unfortunately contaminated.

“We will be moving this back alley to a collection point scheme where bins should be moved to particular ends of the back street. Residents affected will receive a letter about this over the next few days with details on what they need to do on bin collection days in the future.

“This is to make sure that bin collections can be completed and that no resident is missed.

"Any residents who is not able to get their bin to the new collection point can contact us for assisted collection where necessary. We will also take a look at the parking signage on the road and request that there is no parking in this area on bin collection day.”