Mother-of-five 'horrified' as garden crawling with maggots amid bin strikes

The 40-year-old housewife has five children, the youngest of whom is just ten months old and wears nappies, which Raya believes has exacerbated the infestation.

Her husband has had to resort to getting rid of the maggots himself, staying up past midnight and waking up early in the morning to get rid of them with salt and boiling water.

Raya told the Express & Star: "I'm absolutely horrified. This is just not okay. Our bin is now overrun with maggots and they're all over the wall, path, steps, and garden.

"It's so awful and unhygienic. We're a family of seven, so not a small family, and my youngest is 10 months so he's still in nappies.

"We ensured that our grey bin could close and once it was full we’ve had to keep taking bags to the tip. We didn’t want black bags piling up outside the house and we couldn’t keep them inside.

"But there have been maggots in there for two weeks, so I've been stuck as I haven't been able to take these black bags back out to bring to the tip."

Raya added: "We just got on with the bin strikes like everyone else has had to, but coming out to see the bin and pathways like that was horrifying and revolting.

"I pay my council tax on time without fail. This is not ok! I wouldn’t mind but if you're late with council tax by a sneeze they send threatening letters, yet three weeks and my bin looks like this!"

The recent rise in temperature over the last few weeks has added to the problem for Raya and her family, as any windows they've opened to bring cool air into the house has led to them battling large numbers of flies, causing hygiene concerns.

Their infestation comes amid GMB union workers at Serco heading to the picket lines in Sandwell in a fight over pay and working conditions.

At a protest outside Sandwell Council House earlier this month, striking GMB union members said they were protesting over "pitiful" pay and that their cause was getting "stronger by the day".

The picket lines have also prevented bin lorries from leaving the depot, meaning many grey bins have not been collected across Sandwell, as well as green recycling bins.

However, a police presence at the pickets over the last few days has meant grey bin collections have resumed for some residents.

Raya said: "I honestly don’t know much about the reasons behind the strike and what I have garnered has been from social media, so I hold that information very lightly.

"I do appreciate the cost of living is rising drastically but wages are not. Families are struggling and I understand frustrations and difficulties.

"However I’m a Sandwell Council constituent so my agitation ultimately lies there as they have the responsibility to ensure our waste is collected and streets are kept clean.

"I’m now here trying to find a licensed private removal and cleaning service for my bins which I’ll have to pay for.

"I pay my council tax and removal of my bins is included in that service, so I’d really like to know if they will be offering reimbursements to compensate for the lack of this service and inconvenience caused to households."

Councillor Danny Millard, Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for environment and highways, said: “Waste collection and street cleansing are critical services to our residents.

"Thanks to police support we were able to get waste crews out on Wednesday and again on Thursday to collect household refuse and I’m hopeful we can now start to address the backlog that has accumulated.

“Negotiations are continuing between Serco and trade unions and I would urge all parties to bring this dispute to a swift resolution. I would like to thank residents for their patience and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

Tony Marston, senior contract manager at Serco said: "We would like to reassure residents that Serco are fully engaged in conciliation meetings with ACAS and the trade unions in an effort to end this dispute.

"We would like to apologise to residents for the inconvenience these delays are causing because of the industrial action, including vehicle access being restricted by picket lines.

"A police presence on Wednesday and Thursday has meant waste collection vehicles have been able to leave and return to the depots, so some grey bin collections have been able to resume.

"We are doing all we can to ensure that the disruption caused to bin collections by this industrial action is kept to a minimum."