The leader of North Herts District Council has apologised for missed bin collections that have left food waste caddies crawling with maggots.

Councillor Lynda Needham said: “We are aware of an increase in reports of missed bins and food waste caddies in the last few days.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and we are working with our waste contractor Urbaser to identify and resolve the issues as soon as possible.

“We do not believe that these issues are due to the original brown bin data issues we had at the start of the contract.

“Additional crews are out in the district collecting missed bins to try and catch up.”

Those whose bins have been missed include Janet Anderson, of Lindsay Avenue in Hitchin, who told this paper: “I have previously cleared the maggots, but they keep returning.”

Bin collections in North Herts were crippled for weeks following the arrival of new contractor Urbaser in early May – with issues blamed on now-resolved data issues regarding which households had signed up for the district’s new annual brown bin collection charge.

Missed bins should be reported directly to Urbaser on 0800 328 6023 or northhertsenquiries@urbaser.co.uk.