A High Wycombe block of flats has become a “haven for vermin” because of a string of problems with recycling collections by Wycombe District Council.   

Hayley Hall, who lives in a block of 12 flats in Malmers Well Road, says refuse collectors often make “no effort” to move the rubbish that has piled up and take it away and she has even stopped recycling now because there is nowhere to put it. 

Recently, the recycling was not collected for around six weeks.

She said: “We’ve taken to just throwing things away rather than adding them to a never ending pile that doesn’t seem to be moved.

“It’s been reported to the council by many people in the building, but nobody gets much of a response - and nobody has ever been told there will be a delay.

“We’ve lived in the building since summer 2017 and a couple of times we’ve had major issues with it not being collected. 

“This time it’s just gotten out of hand and the rubbish has piled up to a crazy amount. It’s nothing to do with the snow either, as this has been growing for weeks on end.”

While the district council has reportedly suffered problems with collections due to the bad weather conditions in recent weeks, Ms Hall says she does not think the problem is snow-related because the service was disrupted before heavy snow hit the county. 

She said: “We have separate card, plastic/glass and general rubbish bins. The general rubbish gets collected regularly and they have been to collect the plastic a couple weeks ago, but the card just gets left to pile up. It’s a haven for vermin. 

“Our council tax is very high and at a basic level we expect our rubbish to be removed more than every few weeks. It seems they encourage people to recycle and reduce collections to encourage this, but if they don’t provide enough bin space or regular collections it’s useless.” 

A spokesman for Wycombe District Council said: "We’re really sorry about the problems with emptying the communal bins at Malmers Well Road.

"We’ll be out to empty them today and we’re also investigating why the two previous reports about missed collections weren’t acted on. We’ll be working with our contractors to make improvements.

“On average residents will be paying around £136.99 for services from Wycombe District Council for the year ahead, including bin collections, street cleaning, parks and playgrounds, environmental health, planning, leisure and housing.

"This works out at around 38p a day, based on an average band D property.”