AFTER three years of campaigning for recycling bins, homeowners had to endure five weeks of uncollected rubbish because the council forgot to empty them.

The residents of Everest House in Hogarth Road, Hove, wanted the new bins to separate their waste and keep their neighbourhood clean.

However, the joy of seeing the bins arrive quickly disappeared when the recycling continued to pile up.

Resident Eric Akehurst, 72, was one of those who kept pestering for the bins.

He said: “We kept asking and asking and made quite a few phone calls.”

It was only when The Argus got in touch with Brighton and Hove City Council that the rubbish was finally cleared.

Resident Pat Warner, 65, said: “It was not nice. It was not hygienic.

“The council want us to recycle and then they don’t do their bit. It was really horrible.”

Miss Warner said the residents of the block, which is run by Southern Housing, were asked to stop recycling their waste when the bins were not being taken away.

Southern Housing had also contacted the council to ask for the new bins to be collected.

Miss Warner said: “The recycling is something that we were told to do. We are law-abiding citizens.

“If the council don’t do anything you get despondent and don’t want to do it either.

“This is a nice block. It was just a shame about the rubbish.

“It’s looking much better now. We’re all pleased.”

Mr Akehurst added: “It’s all tickety boo now, thanks to The Argus. We are all happy about it.”

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said the authority was now on top of the situation.

He said: “The bins at Everest House have now been emptied.

“It was a bit of miscommunication between the two crews covering that area.”