A RESIDENT has received an apology after he was left without a dustbin - and told he could not put his rubbish in black bags either.

Blackburn with Darwen Council promises that no household will be left without a wheelie bin for more than seven days.

But John McDermott, from Rockliffe Street, Blackburn, claims he had to wait two weeks after his was stolen.

Mr McDermott, said: "On Tuesday, July 27, I put my wheelie bin out for collection but when I returned home it had been stolen. I rang the refuse collection office and was told to wait for 48 hours to see if it suddenly turned up.

"Of course it didn't, so I rang again and was assured it was council policy to get me a new bin within seven days."

After the seven days had passed Mr McDermott rang the council to complain. He said he was told there was a backlog of bins waiting to be delivered and this was to blame for the wait.

He said: "The only thing which came the next day was a letter again from the council stating that all my household rubbish must be put in my wheelie bin and not left in bags outside. It was becoming a farce.

"I rang the number on the letter and asked if I could put my mounting bin bags out for collection because I was still waiting for a bin to arrive.

"I was told: 'absolutely not - you must put them in your wheelie bin'.

"I had already told them I did not have one, as it had gone missing, which seemed to stump them as they could offer no solution to the situation.

"We are talking about a local authority that wants city status but in my mind is not even capable of running the local services of a village.

"It would really be comical if these people were not getting paid for this. It would appear that my council tax gets me nothing in return."

Two weeks after being promised a new bin, one was finally delivered.

Peter Hunt, director of direct services for Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "According to our records it took nine working days to replace Mr Marsden's bin and our target is five working days.

"We apologise for this delay, caused by staff shortages over the holiday period.

"However, Mr Marsden could have placed his bags on the pavement on the day of collection and the bags would have been taken."