A WOMAN from near Ruthin who has had three missed bin collections since Denbighshire’s new system came into effect says she has “no idea” when they will be emptied.

Helen, from Rhyd-y-meudwy, said her bins were last collected on May 28 – prior to the new system being brought in on June 3.

From that date, Denbighshire County Council introduced changes to recycling and waste collections, including new containers and weekly collections for recyclable materials, and the scrapping of the blue wheelie bin.

Residents are now required to separate their “dry” recycling using a new three-tier “Trolibocs”.

But the council has so far issued multiple apologies for residents across the county not having their bins collected on time.

Some of Helen's uncollected wasteSome of Helen's uncollected waste (Image: Submitted)

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Helen is one such resident, saying that planned collections of her bins on June 4, 11 and 18 were all missed.

She said: “We haven’t really got any experience of the new system, as they haven’t even attempted to empty the bins.

“We are having to put our food waste in boxes with lids (like toy boxes) and put them outside.

“I hate to think what the food waste will be like for the poor binmen when we finally have them emptied – I’m sure it’s not going to be pleasant with this heat.

“I can handle not having the recycling collected - we are just putting it in bin bags and putting by the Trolibocs - but the food is disgusting.”

Helen added that she has “ants all over the food bins” and suspects that rats have been “chewing at the bin at night”.

Every missed collection has been reported by her and her neighbour, she added, but to no avail so far.

She said: “We just keep getting told they will be there in 24 hours but nobody ever comes. The lorry passes our house and they have, I assume, a break in the lay-by next to our house.

“They haven’t done any houses on the main trunk road, either, as far as I can see.

“I have no idea when we will have them emptied, and nobody will give us a straight answer. We just get fobbed off.”

Helen’s next collection date, she said, is due to be tomorrow (June 25).

Some of Helen's uncollected wasteSome of Helen's uncollected waste (Image: Submitted)

The fallout of the new system has also seen a petition start calling from an inquiry into the matter, which has so far received more than 650 signatures.

In response to Helen’s comments, a council spokesperson said: “Denbighshire County Council would like to sincerely apologise to residents for the impact on them of missed collections as we roll out the new waste and recycling collection service.

“While the majority of recycling and residual waste collections have been completed as planned across the county, we accept that a large number of residents have not had a collection and that this has caused difficulties for them.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and doing everything we can with the resources we have available to resolve these missed collections.

“We expect that the difficulties will ease as the temporary measures set out above take effect and the new service is embedded.

“We would also like to thank residents for the efforts made by them to ensure that their recycling is sorted correctly and placed in the appropriate containers.

“These efforts have greatly improved the quality of the recycling materials collected and this is really appreciated.”