A disabled man who has been without a rubbish collection for weeks fears his special requirements are being neglected.

Mervin Endacott is wheelchair-bound so cannot move his wheelie bins from his property to the end of his drive.

As a result, he is registered with Maidstone council’s assisted collection scheme where those emptying bins take them from his doorstep and then return them afterwards.

But since the change of company from Biffa to Suez on March 27, this has not happened.

The 65-year-old said: “It’s made me feel very frustrated.

“There’s been a lack of feedback both from the council and Suez, particularly bearing in mind I reported it as a missed collection so the council is aware of the issue.

“I don’t think I am asking too much for an email or for somebody to give me a call to explain there are issues and say ‘don’t worry we are going to get to you’.

“I don’t know why they missed the assisted collection. I checked with the council if I was on their list and the person on the phone said yes I am.”

Mervin’s bin day used to be a Friday but has changed to Wednesday.

This week, it appears his neighbours’ bins were emptied but Mervin’s was still missed.

He continued: “In the past, I have seen them walk up, poke their head in the bins and if there isn’t much in there they would leave it, which is absolutely fine by me.

“But it did appear on the face of it they weren’t going to check, which makes me think what’s going on here is it not being flagged up?

“I had a conversation with them on Wednesday (April 17) and said ‘I know it’s not recycling collection today but I am having an issue’.

“I am down for assisted collection so it would be good to know for sure if my bins will be taken next week and he said if you’re down for assisted collection it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Mervin’s recycling bin is now almost full and though he says he could manage a bit longer he was thinking he needed to find an alternative solution.

“I think I would have to start putting rubbish into black sacks,” he said.

“Then when the bin is next collected I would just have to either pour the contents in or throw the bag in altogether.”

Maidstone council has been asked for a comment on Mervin’s situation.

Disruption to bin collections has been an ongoing situation since Suez took over the contract in Maidstone, Swale and Ashford.

People living in Clifford Way, Maidstone, had to wait four weeks for their rubbish to be taken away as the communal bin stores overflowed with piles of excess waste.

It became such an issue that estate management company RMG Living sent a letter to residents saying it would hire a private contractor to take away excess bags.

Commercial broker Ian Chadwick, who lives in Clifford Way, near Lockmeadow, has been on the phone daily with the council in hopes of sorting out the bin issue.

The 56-year-old said: “It’s frustrating that we all pay a lot of money. My council tax has gone up and we are having bigger bills we’re all having bigger bills.

“We are all service driven and it’s about having a better service in return.”

The letter to Clifford Way residents read: “We are aware of the issue with the bins not being collected by Maidstone council and the change of their collection regime from a weekly service to a fortnightly service.

“We have made contact with the council in a bid to resolve the issues that have been experienced at the site, yet despite promises that bins will be emptied, this has not happened.

“We have instructed a contractor to attend to remove excess waste within the bin stores to avoid a scenario where the council will not collect the waste due to the high levels of bags outside of bins.

“To clarify, the collection of bins is the responsibility of Maidstone council, it is not a service that should be provided by service charge contributions.

“Any issues with refuge collections should be directed to Maidstone council, as the collecting authority.”

The rubbish was collected on April 18 but Ian said even that came with its issues.

“They only picked up 5% of the rubbish here to start with,” he said.

“They collected the bins outside the houses but they didn’t realise we use communal waste areas so all of that was left.

“I called the council up saying what had happened and they gave the usual apology and sent the crews back while I was on the phone to them.”

Despite the general waste being taken away Ian says the recycling is to be collected and it is unlikely any private contractor would be hired to remove it.

He is also worried about the change of service as the road moves from a weekly to a fortnightly collection.

He continued: “Rubbish piles up massively here we have rats along the river and always will do so leaving our waste for two weeks could become quite a health and safety issue.

“We could possibly cope but it would not be satisfactory.

“I don’t understand the change, our council tax has gone up and I understand that needs to happen, everything is getting more expensive but I want better value for money.

“They are taking more but giving us fewer collections. You can’t sell me a sandwich for 5% more but strip out some of the ingredients.”

Ian is still hoping to talk to someone at the council in hopes of finding an explanation.

A council spokesperson said: “Maidstone council and SUEZ are in conversations with the management company in Clifford Way and can confirm that the waste collection was successfully completed.

“The council is not in a position to comment on residents’ service charges, as this is the responsibility of the management company.”