FURIOUS residents are kicking up a stink after council binmen refused to take away their rubbish because the refuse wagon couldn't get past cars double parked on the street.

People in Reading Close, off Audley Range, Blackburn, have been campaigning for years for the council to put parking restrictions on their road but to no avail.

Last year they even sent a petition to the town hall but their bid was turned down as councillors felt parking restrictions would badly affect business for local shops.

But the run-in with the binmen was the last straw and now the residents have vowed to step up their fight for yellow lines.

Mr James Sharples said: "We knew this would happen one day. The parking situation on this street is terrible. People park on both sides and sometimes residents can't even get their cars down the street. "Now our rubbish has been left and we don't know when it will be collected. That means it has got to sit outside our houses for a week.

"We've complained in the past because we were worried about emergency vehicles and the refuse wagon not being able to get down the street and now this has happened."

A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said: "Unfortunately due to inconsiderate parking the council's refuse collectors were unable to get into Reading Close to collect the rubbish.

"The men left extra bin bags for the residents and will collect all the rubbish next week. The council's highways section will look again at the issue of parking in Reading Close as traffic situations regularly change and ask residents to contact them directly if they have any issues they wish to discuss."

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