Cake school owner says 'stinky overflowing' bins are too close

Uma Blacher owns and runs a cake school, Fair Cake, on Western Road, Brighton.

She said the communal refuse bin which serves the area was previously located at a recess at the junction of Temple Street and Western Road.

The communal bin was previously located in this recess (Image: NQ) She said that in September the bin was moved from the recess to the pavement in front of Uma’s business, as part of the “Tidy Up Western Road” scheme.

Uma, who lives in Hassocks, said: "Online research indicates the minimum area between a business door and the bin should be a minimum of six metres. This bin is less than six metres from my door.

“The council claims the bin is emptied every day, but that is not the case. They constantly overflow and stink. I can no longer open the windows because there is a massive influx of fruit flies. It’s embarrassing for me to be swatting flies in a cake school.

Uma says the bin does not get collected daily and regularly overflows (Image: NQ) “I pay my business rates, a portion of which goes towards local services. I am now considering stopping these payments because the local services aren’t serving me.”

Councillor Tim Rowkins, cabinet member for net zero and environmental services, said: “These bins are emptied on a daily basis, although there have been a small number of occasions recently where this has not been possible because some of our vehicles were temporarily out of action.

“This service should now be back to normal, but of course we’re sorry to any businesses impacted by missed collections. We will also continue to look at the frequency of collections to reduce any potential for overflow.

Uma in front of her cake school, Fair Cake (Image: NQ) “We have been reviewing the location of our communal bins to help us improve safety for road users and the accessibility of our refuse and recycling bins for residents and this is what prompted the move in this case.

“We believe the new site is safer, particularly for cyclists, but we will of course continue to monitor any issues, including issues raised by businesses.”