A group of neighbours have had to hire a skip to get rid of their rubbish after a battle over how they are supposed to dispose of their waste.

A number of flats on Belgrave Square, Darwen, have been plagued for the past year, struggling to dispose of their rubbish.

The bins they have been told to use are overflowing after the owners of the private land where the bins have been placed has refused to pay for the collection.

Recently, to try to alleviate the issue, one resident hired a skip which was quickly filled with plenty of rubbish left over.

A woman who lives in the flat block said that she has contacted the council on multiple occasions about disposal of the waste and said she has even been told that ‘rats and mice do not pose a risk to health’.

The woman, who is in her 60s, said: “The rats come out during the day.

“There must be plenty of them, I have seen one on the step of our fire escape, I saw two in next door's garden.

“It’s horrendous. They are running across the rubbish, there are cats in there pulling stuff out.

“It’s just disgusting.”

The land where the bins are located is at Belgrave Meeting House, Darwen, and the woman said that the owner is refusing to pay for the bins to be emptied.

The residents are arguing that the bins are owned by the council and have their stickers on but the council said that they cannot collect them as they are on private land.

Despite this being a big issue for the five flats who are struggling to dispose of their waste, the woman has said that no solution has been offered.

She continued: “The bins belong to the council. We pay our council tax to get our bins empties.

“We have been told they are our bins but they won’t empty them until he pays his bill."

A council spokesperson said: “We will investigate the report and take the appropriate action with the landowners and any perpetrators who cause waste offences.”