A WOMAN visiting her elderly parents in Southampton has rubbished the city's refuse collection service.

Jackie Engelberts has criticised the council for failing to collect the couple's waste - and not providing them with an explanation.

Kenneth Heard and his wife Jill live at Glen Eyre Drive, Bassett.

Jackie, whose husband is Dutch, said: "My family and I are visiting from our home in Holland.

"We have spent much of our quarantine period helping my parents in their garden, having not seen them for a year.

"We put their green bin out on the night before the scheduled collection day but it was not collected.

"We phoned the council to find out why. They couldn't give us a reason and instead asked us to register the missing collection the following day, which we did.

"We were then informed that the bin would be collected within five working days.

"Eight days later it had still hadn't been collected so we phoned again, only to be told their system said the bin was not out when they came. But the bin had not moved from its spot.

"In the meantime the glass put out by all the residents at the start of last week is still out on the street.

"It turns out that due to illness and lack of staff the collection was cancelled. The next scheduled collection is on August 11, resulting in a four-week gap.

"The council put something on Facebook but my parents aren't on Facebook and other elderly people in the street apparently aren't either.

"When I asked why there was no notification of the cancelled collection on the council's website they couldn't say, adding that they considered Facebook sufficient.

"As a visitor to Southampton I'm appalled with the refuse collection service and surely can't be the only one.

"We all want a green planet but we don't want rubbish - even recyclable rubbish lying around for a month.

"What about those looking for a bit of extra income temporarily, perhaps due to loss of income as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?

"Couldn't the council consider temporary employment to fill the gaps instead of simply cancelling a refuse collection.

"There must be a better solution than leaving all this rubbish lying around."