Mounting rubbish could pose a risk to health and attract rats to homes, an angry resident has claimed.

Up to 200 householders have flooded refuse collector Onyx with angry calls because they face a two-week wait to have their bin bags removed.

Caral Davies, of Vista Road, Clacton, said she waited for binmen to arrive after Christmas to collect her seven sacks, but no-one turned up.

She said: "Everybody put their bags outside expecting someone to come and they didn't."

Mrs Davies is worried rats will be attracted to their homes as the number of bags pile up.

"There is no excuse for it, some of Clacton has been done but we have got to wait a fortnight which is just not on," she said.

"It's not fair play, I haven't had a letter saying they would take two weeks holiday. It's absolutely outrageous."

The situation arose because Tendring Council, which contracts Onyx UK to collect rubbish in the district, changed the usual pattern of collections over the Christmas holiday in parts of Clacton, Kirby, Brightlingsea and Walton.

An Onyx spokesman said bags were usually collected a day later than normal, but this year they were picked up on the usual day.

However people who usually have their rubbish collected on a Monday missed out as it was a Bank Holiday.

He admitted there had been a problem, but said it was the council's decision to change the system and Onyx was only following orders.

Information about the changes was also put on bin bags. No-one from Tendring Council was available for comment.

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