Rubbish piles up in Rottingdean as bin lorry driver was on holiday

People living in Tudor Close in Rottingdean say their regular driver told them July’s missed collections were because he was on holiday and no one else would reverse a vehicle down the close’s narrow driveway.

Brighton and Hove City Council blamed overgrown hedges and trees restricting access to the two-and-a half metre (eight foot) wide driveway.

Once the private estate’s gardener had trimmed back the greenery, Cityclean emptied the refuse bins – but left the recycling behind.

Resident Jason Peters was surprised to find the recycling was left behind as he made daily calls to Cityclean for the three weeks the bin rubbish and recycling built up.

Mr Peters said he was told no driver would come out and no manager from Cityclean would come out to adjudicate, leaving the bags building up from the 29 homes.

Usually, the rubbish and recycling are collected on the same day, according to Mr Peters.

He said: “When they came on the normal day they left half of it, so we’re half collected so it’s a start.

“They’ve not done the job properly, so do we have to police the guys in their operation? We should expect it to be done.”

Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Mark Earthey said he has become “Mr Bins” for Rottingdean.

He said: “Saltdean has just had all of this and it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul.

“The capacity used to get rid of the backlog has probably come out of Saltdean and Tudor Close wasn’t collected because a month ago all the capacity was dealing with Saltdean.”

Councillor Tim Rowkins, cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said the general waste and recycling is scheduled for different vehicles on different days of the week.

Councillor Rowkins “The only times when recycling is collected by a refuse vehicle is when there are significant levels of contamination, including items like soft plastics, plastic pots, tubs and trays, or food and drink cartons.”