A Bolton woman says her bins were last emptied before Christmas and does not know when the rubbish will be taken away.

Kaye Soulsby, 67, lives on Littlebrooke Close in Tonge Moor told The Bolton News her bins were last emptied on December 21, alongside many other residents in the area.

She said she put her bins out two weeks ago but were missed on the rounds meaning she she has pre Christmas and post Christmas waste piling up - such as paper and bottles.

Kaye said the bins are overflowing and the council website does not inform her when they will next be emptied.

She said: “It seems to be the whole of Tonge Moor that has just been ignored, originally there was a notice on the council website that said to leave the bins out and within 48 hours they will be collected but now we have disappeared off the Bolton Council website list and none of the bins have been collected.

“It has been a month since my bins have been collected.

“All the bins are out on the street, they are blocking pavements, the mess around the area is appalling because we have had storms, so all the bins have been tipping over with the plastic bottles and paper, they are not particularly heavy.

“Some people go out and pick up their bins, but others don’t and just leave it.

“Other people on my street have reported the missed bins and so has my son and he didn’t feel like the council’s response was particularly helpful.

“They didn’t give him a time and said they would get to him when they can.

“It is making me feel pretty angry because we have had Christmas in the middle of this so all of the bins are overflowing, and the council are quick to say other things when they have got some brilliant project but not when it comes down to basics.

“The basic thing is that people want their rubbish collecting.

“It is a basic commodity that we all need.”

Kaye said not everyone is able to access the local tips too, especially when there is traffic approaching the Raikes Lane junction on the A666.

She said: “Some people have cars, and they can go to the tip if they’ve got time but anybody who has driven down the A666 will tell you that the tailback of traffic queueing to get off at the tip is really problematic.

“We’re not on the lists anymore, we disappeared off the list a week ago for collection so are they going to come this week, we have had snow this week, will this cause a delay again.”

Cllr Emily Mort, councillor for Tonge with the Haulgh, said: “We would always encourage residents to get in touch with us regarding individual concerns, Cllr Silvester addressed the problems we experienced with waste and recycling over the Christmas period in full at full council on January 18.

“There are a number of reasons why we had problems with the bin collections over the Christmas period but the ones that have been individually highlighted to us, I have certainly passed onto the waste and recycling team to follow up.

“I have had a number of conversations with residents over the last few weeks.

“We had 13 bin wagons off the road over Christmas for various reasons including mechanical failures and failed daily inspections.

"This was then compounded by access issues caused by things such as parked vehicles and skips blocking access in certain areas and then the snow earlier this week.

“We are always happy for individual residents to contact us directly with specific concerns of their queries have not been resolved through the normal council processes either over the phone or by email, some people have even sent messages via online social media platforms, although this is not our recommended form of contact we are obviously aware it is possible and we do check these services for messages.

“We also have our ward surgeries which gives people the opportunity to come and see us with specific or ongoing concern these are held monthly on the first Monday of every month at Tonge Moor UCAN centre between 6pm and 7pm and then bi-monthly surgeries are held at St Chads Church, Tonge Fold and The Ukrainian Club in the Haulgh.

"To the best of our knowledge all of the missed bins expect those from Tuesday of this week have been caught up on unless there are specific access issues which are being dealt with separately."

Bolton Council has been approached for comment.

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on X @chloewjourno.