A man with chronic joint pain says he was left bedbound for days after slipping on bin bags left outside his home for a month.

Martin Elliott has suffered from osteoarthritis for 10 years, restricting him to the confines of his home in Winstanley Road, Sheerness, only leaving for medical check-ups.

The 68-year-old was heading to a doctor’s appointment on April 24 when he says one of the sticks he uses slipped on a black sack outside his house.

They had been slowly piling up outside his door since April 1, following borough-wide problems with bin collections after Suez took over the contract.

The father-of-two said: “They were supposed to be collected on April 15 but they changed it to clear sacks on April 14.

“They keep changing it. They say they’ll pick this up, then they change it and then change it back again.”

The former prison officer was heading to the doctor for an assessment of his medication when he fell.

Martin says he injured his knees and back trying to stop himself and was left bedbound for a week and on an increased level of morphine.

He said: “I phoned the council up before to tell them I was going to the hospital and I was worried the bags would be an access issue. They said they would sort it but it was never done.

“Seagulls and cats were constantly ripping into them and I had been reporting it daily on the council’s website as a missed collection. I’ve made numerous phone calls as well so they know about it.”

Martin is now considering launching a bid for compensation over his accident.

Residents across Maidstone, Swale and Ashford have reported issues with bin collections since Suez took over the council contract on March 27.

While some have noticed improvement there are still issues with both the council and the waste company has hired more staff and been working extended hours to catch up with the missed collections.

Martin added: “I’m just annoyed. The smell of it, the inconvenience, it’s disgusting in this day and age and is a shambles.”

Martin’s bins are supposed to be collected every Monday on a fortnightly rotation.

Since talking to KentOnline his bins have been collected and the council has apologised for the missed collections.

A council spokesperson said: “We were aware that some properties in this area did not have their refuse collected on the scheduled day and want to thank everyone who reported their missed bins.

“As with all missed collections, we asked crews to return to collect the waste as soon as possible, and refuse, recycling and food have now all been collected.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to residents and are working to resolve outstanding issues to make sure future collections are on schedule.”