A WOMAN has described how she had to chase after a bin lorry to get her bins collected.

This is despite her being on the assisted list, meaning workers should take the bins from her driveway.

Patricia Olohan, of Cavalier Road in Old Basing, told the Gazette: “I didn’t like it because I felt a bit of an idiot, hailing down the bin men and telling them that I was on the assisted list and it wasn’t that I hadn’t bothered to put my bins out on the pavement it was that I couldn’t push them up there.”

She says that as of 10 September, weekly black bin collections are only happening once every four weeks, despite her calling the council every time her house is missed.

“They haven’t got to search for them, I normally had them through the side gate but I was told they don’t open gates so they’re in full view of the road.”

“If they look down the road, they can’t miss them.”

The last time it went a whole month without being collected, maggots and flies gathered around her bins.

“They were collected then but now we’ve started all over again,” Patricia continued.

“It’s not really good enough.

“When this new company came in they were good, but they seem to have fallen into the same way as the last lot.”

Patricia is just one of many people that have had issues with the bin collections since the new £44 million contract changed last year.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Enforcement, Councillor Hayley Eachus, said: “We are still in a period of adjustment and crews are continuing to learn some new locations of assisted collections, particularly where bins may not be visible.

“We are working closely with Serco to resolve this issue and have now provided additional information to crews about the specific location of the different bins at this particular address.

“I appreciate the frustration this has caused and would like to apologise. We will continue to work hard to resolve issues brought to our attention during this move to rebalance the rounds and make them more environmentally friendly.”

However, Patricia says her bins are entirely visible from the road.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough and Hart District Councils entered into the contract with Serco, and bin collection days were changed over the summer.

Cllr Eachus previously said: “On occasions where a new crew is working in an area, it may be difficult for them to identify where bins are left at a property so we ask residents receiving assisted waste collections to ensure their waste and recycling containers are left in a location that is suitable and safe for our staff to collect.

“We list incomplete rounds, along with estimated collection dates, on our website www.basingstoke.gov.uk/service-updates. If an address is not listed, we encourage residents to call our Customer Contact Centre on 01256 844844 to report their missed collection.”