Row over '˜stinking' Leeds communal bin store

Jill Smith, of Beamsley Mount, said the fixed industrial bin store outside her home is a magnet for fly-tippers.

It was installed more than four years ago after Leeds City Council chiefs said individual wheeled bins permanently left on pavements caused obstructions.

The council has agreed to relocate the bin store elsewhere on Beamsley Mount, but Jill Smith wants it scrapping and individual bins returned.

She said: “They encourage fly tipping. People come from all over to dump rubbish because it looks like a tip.

“I will have to sell my house and move because I can’t stay living behind this stinking edifice.

“The bins constantly stink, there are always flies around them, and there are mice everywhere.”

A Leeds City Council spokeswoman, said: “We have taken on board Ms Smith’s concerns and have already put plans in place to move the communal bin store from away from her property, which we hope will go some way to resolving these issues. Overall the communal bins have been well received by the majority of residents in the 80 properties affected and have solved the previous issues of the wheeled bins being left permanently on the pavement causing obstructions and missed collections when bins were not presented properly.

“Unfortunately it is clear that a move back to the original collection regime, using wheeled bins, would lead to a return of the large-scale environmental problems on the street before the communal bins were installed. This is therefore not an option we are able to consider at this time.”