Residents in Burnham-On-Sea have this week called on refuse collection teams to spend more time tidying up the town’s streets after litter and debris was left strewn across pavements following the latest refuse collection.
Concerned home owners in John Street (pictured right) and Kingsway Road (below) claimed the roads were left in an “appalling” condition after last Friday’s rubbish collection.
One resident, Clive Warn, contacted Burnham-On-Sea.com, saying: “There was an appalling litter and rubbish problem. The bins had been completely attacked by seagulls, and food and litter was strewn all over the road.”
“It seems we have such a poor system for rubbish collection. This is a huge issue in terms of public health and safety and I know that when the collection happens they will only collect what is sealed in a bag. It is an eyesore.”
Mark Blaker of Somerset Waste Partnership, which oversees refuse collection in the town, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Our collection people are contracted to clear up within a metre of the point of collection, so we would have expected at least some of this to have been cleared up and we will make that point to the contractor.”
“Having said that, it’s not possible for the collection crews to do the job of road sweepers as they would never get their job done. Many sacks are split before the collection, possibly by gulls or dogs.”
“Householders can minimise that sort of thing by putting their rubbish out as close to the collection time as possible and using waste bins if they can although I realise that’s not always possible in narrow streets.”
“In general, we find the crews do take a pride in leaving their rounds ‘nice and tidy’, so I hope this is an isolated incident.”
