Mountain of rubbish set on fire after refuse collectors refused to empty bins for three weeks

The oveflowing bin at Midland Walk, Norwich, on Monday, April 1, before it was set on fire. Picture: Julie Creed (Image: Julie Creed)

Julie Creed, 64, of Midland Walk, Norwich, said the rubbish in the general waste and recycling bins has been piling up and spilling on the ground, with heaps of garbage scattered on the floor.

'It's horrible, people come up to visit you and they have to walk past that,' she said. 'There are nappies and sanitary towels on the floor.

'You pay your rent and taxes and you have to sit and look at that.'

Fly tippers regularly dump their rubbish around the bins, Ms Creed said, which has been an on going problem for a number of years despite numerous complaints to the council.

The oveflowing bin at Midland Walk, Norwich, on Monday, April 1, before it was set on fire. Picture: Julie Creed (Image: Julie Creed)

It has got so bad that refuse collectors have refused to collect the rubbish for three weeks, which Ms Creed said is exacerbating the problem.

After calling the council on Monday, April 1, to complain about the binmen refusing to empty the bins, she looked out of her window to find them on fire.

Although it is not known how the bins were set alight, Ms Creed suspected someone had set it on fire purposefully.

She added: 'It was awful, there were bottles and cans exploding.'

The overflowing rubbish at the communal bins in Midland Walk, which haven't been emptied for three weeks, and then were set on fire. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2019)

A Norwich City Council spokesman said the rubbish had been cleared by Thursday, adding: 'Due to the large amount of rubbish and fly-tipping around one of the communal bins at Midland Walk our crew wasn't able to empty the bin and put in a request for the fly-tipping to be cleared.

'We are clarifying our procedures with the crew to make sure situations like this are dealt with more immediately in the future.'

But Ms Creed said she has had enough of the rubbish tip and wants the bins gone entirely.

The communal bins are meant to be used by residents in eight of the flats in Midland Walk which are emptied every Monday.

The overflowing rubbish at the communal bins in Midland Walk, which haven't been emptied for three weeks, and then were set on fire. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2019)

However, with fly-tipping and passers-by dumping their rubbish in or around the bins, they are constantly over-flowing by the time the bin collection date comes around.

'Three of us don't use those bins,' said Ms Creed. 'We might petition to get rid of them completely, it's not like there aren't enough bins in the area.

'We've had problems for the last two years, last summer we had rats.'

Julie Creed, with her dog Nelson, by the overflowing communal bins next to her flat in Midland Walk, which haven't been emptied for three weeks, and then were set on fire. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2019)

The bin at Midland Walk, Norwich, which has not been emptied for three weeks, was set on fire. Picture: Julie Creed (Image: Julie Creed)