Maggots horror

Rachel, of Sheila Child Close, said she and her partner tried frantically to kill the maggots with boiling water and bleach but "nothing we did seemed to have any effect on them at all."

Concerned that the maggots would get into the house during the night they stuffed towels along the bottom edge of the front door.

But in the morning they were horrified to find that, despite their efforts, maggots had still managed to get into the hall and were crawling on the carpet.

Rachel, who has a three month old baby and a toddler aged three said: "It's a good job that my partner was the first to go downstairs and not my little boy."

She said the situation isn't confined to her home as neighbours, "all along the street" have the same problem.

She blames the situation on Rother council's fortnightly bin collection service and said: "There are four of us in our family, we recycle as much as we possibly can and make sure what we do put in the bins is secured in black bags.

"But as the bins just aren't big enough to take two weeks' waste this means that often we end up having to stack bags on top of them."

Desperate to deal with the situation Rachel contacted her landlord, Rother Homes, for advice and was initially told the situation, "wasn't their responsibility", and suggested she contact the council.

However, two days later a representative from Rother Homes visited Rachel at her home to assess the situation and suggested she "put the waste food in the freezer until collection day."

Rachel said she had no intention of doing any such thing and thought this idea was "unbelievable."

On calling Rother council, Rachel said they were "not very helpful at all" with the environmental health department advising her to speak to someone who dealt with "pesticides."

In response to Observer inquiries a Rother Homes spokesman said: "Environmental issues and refuse collection are the responsibility of Rother District Council. However, we work in partnership with the community and residents to encourage clean neighbourhoods."

For Rother District Council, David Hermon said: "Whilst some people may experience problems with flies and maggots this really is down to how they manage their waste."If residents simply ensure that all food waste, including waste pet food and pet litter is wrapped and placed in a carrier bag and tied securely in a bin liner before they place it in the black wheelie bin they should not experience any problems with the alternate weekly collection.

"Government Guidance suggests that where there are concerns about the increased risk of odour, flies and other nuisances, the local authority should provide secure, rigid storage just as Rother has done."