Neighbors who have been plagued by skip bins for almost two months say their road has turned into a ‘slum’ due to the amount of rubbish not collected.
Some homeowners in Longbridge, Willesborough Lees, in Ashford, have even taken to spraying the festering rubbish with disinfectant every day.
It comes after Suez Recycling and Recovery UK took over the £152 million waste contract from Biffa in Ashford, Swale and Maidstone on March 25.
The service has been dogged by problems that have led to hundreds of complaints from fed-up residents.
Many collections have been significantly delayed, leading some to pay private companies to dump their waste across the country.
Longbridge residents have not emptied their food waste and recycling bins since May 1.
The collection of household waste was also missed last week.
Pensioners David and Joan Cossey, who have been living on the streets for a decade, told KentOnline that communications from the council were unacceptable.
Mr Cossey, 84, said: “The whole situation has only gotten worse over the month.
‘I feel like the honeymoon period is over for everyone involved after two months.
‘I don’t know why we pay around 200 euros in municipal tax every month if no one helps us.
“We have called Ashford Borough Council (ABC) several times for weeks but can never get through so it is just so inconsistent.”
The former NHS ambulance worker believes the situation is now causing a ‘chain reaction’ of problems the longer it continues.
“The smells here are terrible now and with the woods at the back of the road there are fears of foxes causing a mess,” Mr Cossey added.
“The weather is also getting warmer, so I spray the containers with disinfectant every day.”
Kevan Johnson is another homeowner fed up with the problem.
The 66-year-old, who has lived in Longbridge since 2006, said: “It just really needs to be sorted out because you would think we are becoming a third world country given the massive snowball effect.”
Husband and wife Rod and Beverly Maller have also expressed their concerns.
Mr Maller, 68, said: “It scares you to look in the bins because you know there are maggots in there, judging by the smell.”
Ms Maller added: “Our road has not been looked at and has been turned into a slum.”
Others in Ashford say they are also experiencing problems with the new provider.
Charity shop worker Joanne Veryard lives with her mother, Denise, 71, and father, Bert, 70, in Boxley, South Ashford.
She says both her recycling and food waste bins have not been collected since May 4.
When asked how this affected the family, the 41-year-old said: “Our rubbish bins are along a path in front of the house.
“But because everyone just sits there, mobility scooters and strollers cannot get through.
“However, we have to leave them there because we are all afraid that they will not be picked up after we pull them to the house at night.”
Meanwhile, Elena Rooker, who lives with her husband Steve in Hawks Way, Beaver Green, says she lives in the ‘hope’ her rubbish will be collected.
The 55-year-old said: “We haven’t had our recycling collected since the last day of April and it has just been sitting outside our house ever since.
“It’s starting to smell, so it’s not very pleasant.
“An advisor from the municipality told me that the rubbish bins on our road would be emptied on May 21, but this has not happened yet.
“We are all waiting and hoping now.”
Meanwhile, Ashford Borough Council has apologized to residents for the delays.
A statement from the local government said: “We are working closely with Suez to resolve these issues and minimize disruption during this transition period.
“We have had to make some changes to the service vehicles and to routes and rounds, which took longer than we expected.
“These changes have meant that our missed bin reporting system has been unavailable for some time.
“This has been resolved and the system now gives you the option to report all missed bins online.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank everyone for their patience during this period.”