ROTTING food is mounting up in a Benhall cul-de-sac.
Residents say recycling and green waste collections have not been carried out in Sotherby Drive for seven weeks.
They have lodged an official complaint with Cheltenham Borough Council about the lack of collections.
Ann Offer, who lives in the road, said that, despite repeated attempts, calls and emails to the authority had come to nothing.
The 42-year-old added: "I have had different excuses, from the fact that the wagon cannot get down our road to the fact that there is nowhere for it to park.
"It is not the first time that we have experienced this issue – they took four weeks to collect some of the rubbish last year.
"We are constantly being told it will be done in the next 24 hours and then nothing gets done. Some people have been taking their recycling to Sommerfields but not everybody has a car."
Neighbour Alix Farmer said much of the rubbish had been left outside her house, ready to be collected, since before Christmas.
The mum-of-three said she was concerned that her two-year-old daughter would be in danger if she wanted to play outside. "We have taken some of the rubbish to the tip already, but there is still a lot piled up outside," she said.
"There are eight houses in this close, all with families, and the children all play out there.
"I am really concerned that my two-year-old daughter will be out there playing and, at that age, if we tell her not to touch it, then she will automatically want to do the opposite."
She said her housing association Guinness Trust had also contacted the council for help.
"Our house is part of the Guinness Trust and their staff have been brilliant," she said. "They have been on to the borough council repeatedly but have got nowhere."
Beth Boughton, waste & recycling manager for Ubico Ltd said the binmen had found it difficult to get through because parked cars blocked the road. She added: "We have recently transferred collections onto smaller, narrower vehicles wherever this is operationally possible which give us a better chance of gaining access. We have been in contact with the residents following the most recent problems and we will do all that we can to get regular collections going again."
OPINION, P8
