A resident has called the council’s bin collection schedule a joke after two and a half months of chaos.

Matthew Barber, 45, says Sandpiper Road in Lordswood is littered with rubbish after repeated missed collections from the council.

This comes after a change in refuse collectors’ working practices, where a ‘task and finish’ system was scrapped in favour of a new method that requires employees to work their full contracted hours and take breaks.

“Two and a half months should be long enough to fix a problem,” Matthew told the Echo.

“It’s a joke that we’re required to pay higher council tax when something like this can’t get sorted and the public is left to suffer.”

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Having contacted the council – as well as MP Alan Whitehead – Matthew said nothing has changed since he first began to experience problems in February.

Daily Echo:

“The recycling is the worst - we have to wait at least two weeks before it’s collected, and the general waste has consistently been four or five days overdue.

“More than once the bins have been knocked over and the rubbish just spills out into the road, it’s not a good look.”

Southampton City Council has previously asked residents to report their missed bin collections online, while they work to clear the backlogs and excess waste.

However, Matthew said there could be a potential loophole in the system, which might not show the true extent of the problem.

He said: “When you go to report your missed collection, you have to do it within the first 48-hours otherwise you’re unable to do it and have to wait until the following week.

“I think a lot of people have just given up to be honest with you and don’t bother anymore.”

To add to his frustrations, when attempting to take his uncollected waste to the tip at Southampton Recycling Centre, Matthew was refused entry as he hadn’t booked an appointment beforehand.

“You used to just be able to go down there,” he said.

“Now even when you want to dispose of the rubbish yourself it’s made more difficult for you, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.”