A KINGSTEIGNTON woman is fighting an uphill battle to keep her neighbourhood tidy, as bins outside her house have remained ‘unusable’ for the last couple of months.

Louise Reeves lives in River Close, Kingsteignton. For months now, she has been dealing with vast quantities of rubbish outside her house. After repeatedly contacting the housing association, Sovereign Housing and Teignbridge District Council, nothing has changed.

‘It’s only got worse,’ said Louise, ‘It’s just ridiculous. I’ve been phoning daily, my husband phones, my neighbours phone.’

While the bin is on private land and is, therefore, the responsibility of Sovereign Housing, many refuse collectors now refuse to pick up the waste as they can’t get to it or it’s over-specified weight limits.

Inevitably, the overflowing bins have attracted vermin, which Louise has paid hundreds to exterminate. While additional bins and a camera to ensure proper use have been promised, nothing has changed yet.

Louise added: ‘I worry about my children’s welfare, and we’re paying £320 a month in council tax to live like this. There’s just no justification as to why this keeps happening.

‘The neighbour can’t even open the windows because of the smell coming from the bin area – I invite Teignbridge Council or Sovereign to come and try living here!’

A spokesperson for Teignbridge District Council responded: ‘Over many years there have been problems with bins at River Close which we have done our best to resolve by advising Sovereign Housing and writing to residents explaining the problems and suggesting solutions.

‘The properties have had more attention than probably any others in the district.

‘We have provided larger bins than the normal entitlement, undertaken additional collections and written to residents in neighbouring properties some of whom inappropriately use the bins allocated to the flats.

‘Our staff are often prevented from emptying the bins due to access being blocked by bulky and inappropriately dumped waste.

‘The bins are on private land and it is not the council’s responsibility to clear obstructions which prevent collections taking place and Sovereign Housing and residents are aware of this.’

Layla Pope, Locality Manager at Sovereign Housing, said: ‘We share our customer’s frustration and our teams have been visiting River Close regularly. As well as arranging additional clearance and cleaning whenever we become aware of a build-up in the bin store, we have continued to engage with both our customers and Teignbridge District Council to find a long-term solution.

‘We are pushing for additional bin capacity, alongside exploring enforcement measures to prevent fly-tipping supported by new CCTV that is due to be installed shortly.’