Maggots and flies in bins not collected in Wellington Road

The footage was shot by a woman who said she has “never seen” so many maggots in her life and that the flies were a “health hazard”.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said people have been forced to leave their rubbish in the courtyard area on Wellington Road, Brighton, as the bins are already overflowing.

This comes after weeks of Cityclean not collecting the flat’s two communal bins.

Brighton and Hove City Council has apologised to residents, saying that “staff sickness” and a “national labour shortage” is behind missed bin collections.

The two bins for the 15 flats at the address in Wellington Road.

The council also said that they have a number of new trucks and lorries from this week which will “help the situation”.

September’s nationwide heatwave has not made the problem any better in terms of the smell, as well as the flies and maggots in and around the complex’s bins.

The resident, who has lived in Wellington Road for two years, said: “I think that’s made it even worse because obviously there is so many flies, I was really shocked the other day because I’ve never seen something like that in my life and I’ve tried contacting the council but no one answers the phone.

“I know that a lot of residents continually report it because we’ve had this for almost a year now where they don’t get collected.

“It has been going on for at least a year, they don’t get collected for a month sometimes. Usually, it’s two to three weeks.”

She said using the communal courtyard has been “impossible” this summer due to the inconsistent bin collections.

“Last summer people would occasionally sit outside in the courtyard and have a picnic or barbeque but this summer it has been impossible," she added. "Due to the number of flies it’s a bit of a health hazard as well.”

A council spokesman said: “We’d like to apologise to the residents of Wellington Road and other areas for any missed refuse collections.

“Although our staff are working very hard to catch up, like many local authorities and businesses throughout the country we're still facing staffing issues due to sickness and the national labour shortage. This has also affected our ability to employ agency staff.

“We've also been facing difficulties with some of our vehicles, with Brexit causing delays to getting replacement vehicle parts when our trucks break down. However, we have a number of new trucks and lorries being deployed this week which will help the situation.

“We’d ask our residents to bear with us as we get back on track with collections.”