Arbroath residents are making a stink about the council’s refusal to collect their rubbish for almost two months.
The row is over waste allegedly placed in their recycling bins by other people and which they are being told to remove themselves before the bins will be uplifted.
James Allan is one of the affected residents in Leonard Street.
He said: “I am now into my eighth week since four bins in my block have been emptied. The bins have been sitting in the street for two months, yet the council defiantly refuse to empty them.
“Their position is that the wrong kind of rubbish is in the bins.
“I fully understand the recycling process and which items go in which bins, but other people have put bags of rubbish into the bins after they have been put out in the street, and it is unreasonable to expect tenants to sift through other people’s stinking rubbish.”
Grey bins are meant to take newspapers and magazines, cardboard and food and drinks cartons, cans, all types of plastic bottles and glass bottles and jars, but not plastic bags, anything contaminated with food and not general waste which cannot be recycled.
Mr Allan said he had received a letter from the council saying he would have to sort through his contaminated grey bin and remove non-recyclable items for it to be emptied.
“I refuse point blank to sift through other people’s well-decomposed rubbish. The bins will remain in the street obstructing the pavement until such times as the council do their job properly.
“They want a Mexican stand-off, they’ve got one,” he said.
A council spokesperson said: “If a recycling round is found to be contaminated the whole load can be rejected at the sorting facility which has a substantial cost to the taxpayer.
“Where a bin is contaminated, it is the householder’s responsibility to remove the contaminated materials before presenting the bin for collection on the next scheduled collection day.
“The householder or landlord can request the emptying of a contaminated recycling bin, which may result in a charge.”