Our streets are overrun by army of rats & stinking bins...

LOCALS fear their streets are being overrun by an "army of rats" and their stinking bins left to rot under a "bonkers" new council plan. Disgruntled residents in Bristol claim their city is already swimming in rubbish and the new policy, which is on the brink of approval, will make matters even worse. If waved through, it will see the frequency of bin collections decreased to just once every four weeks.

Image Credit: The Sun [Overflowing Bristol City Council trash bins on a street.]

Almost 10,000 of the city's 760,000 inhabitants have come together to sign a petition against the switch - with some even considering taking matters into their own hands. One local, university worker Ellie, 42, told The Sun: “It’s always like this, even though we currently have fortnightly, not monthly, collections, so what the heck is it going to be like when they’ve been left out for another two weeks.

Image Credit: The Sun [Portrait of Ellie, a communications employee from Bristol.]

“We’ve already got a rat problem here, but with the rubbish left lying around - whether it’s in the home or out on the street - it’s going to horrendous. “There will be rats everywhere and that will bring infestation and disease, potentially. “We’ve had rats in our home. I can hear them beneath the floorboards and the other day I saw one in our lounge. The neighbours have rats too. “I’ve signed the petition and I urge the council to think again about this bonkers idea.”.

Image Credit: The Sun [Overflowing trash bins on a city street.]

Ellie, who works in the marketing and communications and department at Bristol University, added: “I used to live in London and we had one bin for recycling and another for general waste, so it was fairly quick and easy to sort it, and we could just leave it out for the collection team to sort through and separate the waste on the street. “Then when I moved here eight years ago, it was three different recycling bins and we have to sort it ourselves, which takes quite a bit of time. Now they want us to not only sort through every piece of waste, but also to then leave it all hanging around for four weeks.”.

Image Credit: The Sun [Overflowing trash bins on a city sidewalk.]

Abstract artist Ronnie, 69, says he plans to buy a £125 digital compactor to reduce the volume of rubbish stored at his home if the policy is implemented. He said: “It’s a lot of money for people to find, but I don’t see any other solution. “Maybe the council should provide us all with a compactor with all the money they say they’ll be saving on collections.". The once-a-month collections would aim to “to boost recycling” and cut costs of around £2.3m, the council has said.

Image Credit: The Sun [Portrait of a man standing on a residential street.]

Ronnie added: “A month between collections is just too long. I can remember it being once a week and that was as it should be. "I’m happy to recycle, but I don’t want waste lying around for four weeks. We already have a rat problem here and this is going to cause a massive rodent issue. “I recycle everything I can and put it out but often they don’t collect it all. "Last week they left the cardboard I’d carefully recycled. What’s the point, if they can’t even be bothered to collect it. There’s always plenty they leave behind.”.

Image Credit: The Sun [Woman walking past overflowing trash bins on a city street.]

Retired business analyst Kevin, 64, said that because he lives alone, he does not expect to be too affected by the switch to monthly collections, but has sympathy for larger households. He said: “There’s a family next door to me with six in the house so what the heck are they going to do with all the waste that will be generated over the course of a month?. “It will be overflowing everywhere and that presents a potential health hazard.”.

Image Credit: The Sun [Portrait of Eli, an 18-year-old student from Bristol.]

Another resident, teacher Geoff, 58, said he fears the waste will attract “an army of rats”. He said: “If we aren’t having it collected for a month, rubbish will be piled up in the street because there’ll be no room in the bins for more. That will attract even more rats. “It’s a bonkers idea and it needs to be abandoned.”. Others fear an explosion of fly-tipping, where people dump rubbish in public areas because they no longer have room to store their waste.

Image Credit: The Sun [Overflowing bins on a residential street.]

One, retired hospital worker Connie, 60, said: “People are just going to illegally dump their rubbish wherever they can. “Once a month is crazy. It’s another sign of the UK going downhill, I’m afraid. It’s going to create a mess in this beautiful city.”. Student Eli, 18, described the plans as “ridiculous”, even though he is always happy to recycle. He said: “I recognise it’s essential that we all recycle all our waste. It’s what my generation have grown up with so it’s almost automatic, but the council has a responsibility to collect it before it starts piling up.

Image Credit: The Sun [Overflowing bins and litter on a city street.]

“Four weeks between collections is way too long. It’s just gross. “We’ll be overrun with rats and that will cause horrific problems.”. Culver, 27, who works at Bristol Law Centre, said: “I can understand the need to make a financial saving, but if it creates a rat epidemic, it will cost more in the long run. “Four weeks is just too long. The bins at the block of flats where I live are always overflowing by the end of the fortnight, so I dread to think what it will be like after a month.”.