Angry residents have blasted a council for missing bin collections amid complaints of rubbish being left strewn across streets.

About 30 roads have been affected by late pick-ups in recent weeks, with people believing they are receiving service that gets worse each year.

But Thanet District Council - which carries out the collections - says it is improving collection rates despite crews facing daily problems.

Gary Johnson, who lives in Beech Drive, Broadstairs, says he cannot understand why collections are missed as his road sits on a bus route which is served without problems.

He says part of the estate was missed for two weeks in a row earlier this month while other roads in the area were cleared.

“When they do come you get loads of rubbish dropped over the floor and we’ve not had street cleaners around here for months,” he said.

“It’s worse when they do the recycling as more rubbish drops on the floor.

“There are no access issues as the roads missed are on a bus route and the buses were running ok.”

Mr Johnson says he feels taxpayers are not getting a fair deal as “the service gets worse” despite increases in council tax.

The council says it collects nine million bins around the district every year at a collection rate of 99.64% - equal to missing 50 bins from every 169,500 collected by crews each week around Thanet.

A spokesman said: “The majority of missed bins go uncollected due to reasons outside the control of the refuse crew on duty.

"The council endeavours to revisit any missed collections on the same day or the day after.

“Missed bins can occur for a number of reasons. Collections are most often disrupted due to inconsiderately parked cars which can prevent refuse trucks accessing narrow roads in our district.

“Putting the wrong type of waste out for collection, and placing additional items next to bins is also an issue crews have to deal with on a regular basis.”

Pictures from Archway Road in Ramsgate show bins spilling out with litter and waste across the ground.

Charlie Mason, who lives in Archway Road in Ramsgate, says he wants someone to “kick” the council into action.

“Thanet District Council missed several ‘weekly’ collections in a row, and seagulls are tearing into the overflowing rubbish causing it to spill all over the road,” he added.

The council says it wants people to give feedback on bin collections and offers an online reporting tool to report issues.

Smaller lorries are being used on rounds to counter “persistent access issues” and bollards installed to “mitigate issues”. Thanet District Council also hopes to bring in more double yellow lines.

A spokesman added: “Working alongside the county council, TDC is also looking to introduce more double yellow line protection around junctions. The council’s enforcement team will also issue around 25,000 penalty charge notices this year for parking restriction offences.

“There has been a focus to educate the public on the waste we can and cannot collect as part of their weekly household waste collections. If a bin includes an item which is not allowed, we won’t be able to empty it.”

To report issues with bin collections head to forms.thanet.gov.uk/Missed-bin

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