RESIDENTS of two blocks of flats in Worcester are furious at having to put up with rubbish strewn across the grass outside their homes.

They say it is because there is no designated area to store the refuse produced by the 16 flats off Tolladine Road, Tolladine.

Currently residents in the Worcester Community Housing-managed complex place the bags on a patch of grass at the side of one of the buildings, but some get torn up by animals and rubbish is spread out on the ground for cats and vermin to rummage through. When the bin men arrive to collect the waste they only take the black bags that have not been torn open while leaving the remaining rubbish on the ground. This is left to resident to pick up themselves.

Dave Rudhall, aged 60, said: "You almost feel embarrassed when people come around to visit. It looks horrible."

Nick Smith, aged 40, said: "The bags tear and get broken up by animals, like cats. That attracts the vermin. We have seen rats. People are getting fed up with it."

He suggests a large communal bin, like the ones found outside restaurants, which would mean that animals would not be able to get at the bags to tear them.

He said: "When the binmen come all they will have to do is lift open the lid and pull out the bags."

However, Mike Harrison, the city council's head of environmental services, said that the council put a stop to this as there was a danger to its staff in that they may not be able to see any sharp objects, such as glass, protruding from the bags and cutting themselves while lifting them out of the communal bins.

He said that someone would be sent to the flats to look at the problem.

"If there is something that we can do to make it easier for the resident then we look into that."

The Worcester News was unable to contact Worcester Community Housing for a comment.