Residents have rubbished Bradford Council after a mountain of bin bags was left outside their homes for three weeks.

People living in Victoria Park View, Keighley, claimed the rotting mass of up to 40 bags was attracting mice and rats - but they say pleas to have the rubbish removed fell on deaf ears.

The bags were finally taken away on Monday after the residents contacted the Telegraph & Argus, although one was still left behind.

Retired John Bass, 53, said: "The locals have been on to Bradford Council and they promised to come out but they didn't so we rang again. They said they weren't prepared to come out until the New Year but they should have been here three weeks before that. We are all getting totally fed up with it. The bin men lined the bags up and then left them out on the street."

He added: "We have a cat and it had been chasing six mice in our house. We also saw rats in the road."

Councillor Keith Thomson, chairman of Bradford Council's waste management sub-committee, said: "Three weeks is an enormous amount of time for rubbish not to be collected. It is unusual for it to be left so long and I'm surprised it had got to that stage."

He said he would organise for the rubbish to be collected on Monday.

Yesterday Janet Bass said: "They came in a small van and took most of it away but still left a small bag behind.

"My husband John rang the refuse department in Keighley and left a message that it still wasn't all cleared away. They haven't been back yet."

Coun Thomson said he had investigated the case and one of the problems was that people were parking cars so it was difficult for the men to reach the refuse.

"Private-hire cars often park in the area which prevents the bin wagon getting up the street," he said.

He said the area was being leafleted and residents were being urged to act more responsibly in the way they parked.

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