A BOURNEMOUTH family is outraged after it took council workers four weeks to collect bins following a dispute over hedges.

East Cliff resident Cindy Land shares two bins with nine other flats, which were left to fill up from May 14 to June 11, despite endless pleas with the council to take the waste away.

Mrs Land said: "The council have collected the rubbish on a one-off basis for environmental reasons.

"They say they won't make regular collections until the hedges are sufficiently cut back to allow room for their vehicle.

"But the landlord cut the hedges back weeks ago - we've even sent photographic evidence of them being trimmed. It seems they still aren't satisfied."

She is concerned that the rubbish will pile up again.

"The bins were full after just seven days.

"After that the rubbish started to spill onto the pavement and into the road.

"The stench was horrendous - we all had to walk past it everyday. The flies around the rubbish started to come into the flats," she said.

"There are a lot of children around here and they play out the front - it's just not hygienic."

Gary Briggs, domestic refuse manager for Bournemouth Borough Council, said his department was meeting with the owner's gardener yesterday to ensure the hedges are taken back far enough to allow the refuse vehicle to gain easy access.

"In the meantime we have made a refuse collection in order to clear the area and make it safe, however, the refuse vehicle was damaged again in doing so," he said.