A waste management company that’s caused four months of bin collection chaos is to be penalised - but residents will not see a penny.

Suez started collecting recycling and rubbish across Swale, Maidstone and Ashford as part of a £152 million contract in March.

The new providers promised to “improve reliability, reduce the environmental impact and provide a more efficient service” for the 460,000 people living under the authorities who make up the Mid-Kent Waste Partnership.

However, problems soon started and people were forced to pay for their rubbish to be collected by private contractors after weeks of missed collections in Kemsley and Minster.

Now, following a three-month grace period, Suez will be penalised for the issues. It has also been confirmed there will be no compensation for missed recycling or refuse collections. A decision on garden waste subscriptions is yet to be made.

A spokesman for the council said: “As with any contract we hold with a third party, it has performance clauses within it specific to the required outcomes wanted from the contract.

“It is always our intention to solve issues quickly and without the need for formal contract management to make sure the service is where we expect it to be, but we are now beyond the grace period and therefore contract penalties are being applied.”

Swale council is unable to share how much the penalty is as “the details of the contract are commercially sensitive”.

Yet there are still people who have only had their waste collected once since March 2 and they say it is like “living in a third-world country”.

Vince Kindlin lives in one of the Clarity Mews flats along London Road in Sittingbourne, which he says hasn’t had one scheduled bin collection since Suez took over.

The 64-year-old explained: “Through various complaints, we have had three waste and one recycling collection since the start of the contract.

“As communal flats, we have six great big residential bins that are in a building that is a bit smaller than a garage.

“They are all full, you can’t get anything else in them. We also have 10 recycling bins that are also full.

“We live the horrendous smell and rats running around daily. There are flies everywhere, I’m surprised the Environment Agency isn’t involved.”

Vince, a retired power station worker, complains daily to the council about the issue.

He said: “The waste collection team completely bypasses us as if we don’t exist. It’s not getting any better.

“You’d think with all the complaints going in something would change. It is like a third-world country here.”

A Swale council spokesman explained that although most residents are now receiving a constant service the authority is aware of some areas still seeing issues.

He said: “We can assure you that all involved - councillors, council staff and Suez - are working hard to resolve the situation.

“The last few weeks have seen a marked improvement and Suez will be making some further changes to the rounds that should resolve the remaining issues.

“We are taking our time to check these to get it right and will inform residents affected in due course.”

Sarah Barnes, who lives in the Grove Park area of Sittingbourne, fears for her pregnant daughter’s health because of the mounting rubbish outside her home.

The 25-year-old mum-to-be, Molly, lives in a flat at Hedley Walk, along Church Street in Sittingbourne.

Speaking on her daughter’s behalf, 52-year-old Sarah said: “Since Suez took over I think my daughter’s bins have been collected once, maybe twice. The last collection was the second week of May.

“The issue they now face, apart from the disgusting smell (which you can smell inside the building now), is the flies and we all know that with flies there will be maggots.

“As soon as you open the doors to put any rubbish in there you are swarmed.

“My daughter and her partner have to keep all their windows closed.”

“Molly is now eight months pregnant and I am very concerned for her and her unborn child's health as someone has now reported that they have seen rats.

“Diseases that wild rats can carry include leptospirosis, hantavirus and LCMV to name just a few, and some of these are airborne.

“I have told her not to go anywhere near the bin store as this is a serious health hazard.”

Sarah, a bookkeeper and accounts manager, and her daughter have reported the issue to the council every week.

Swale council was asked when the remaining issues with bin collections would be resolved.

The spokesperson said: “Most residents are now receiving the regular collections and we are continuing to work with Suez to resolve the remaining issues.

“Whilst the service is still not where we would like it to be, we have seen consistent improvements in collection rates week on week and we are confident we can work with Suez to get the service to the standard we, and our residents, expect.

“We know the steps needed and are working to implement these as soon as possible.”

An FOI sent from a member of the public to Swale council requested the authority share how many companies submitted a tender for the waste and street cleansing contract for the council waste services, that Suez won.

The council said two companies submitted tenders, Suez Recycling and Recovery UK LTD, and Biffa Municipal LTD. Both took part in the initial dialogue sessions.

However, Biffa withdrew its submission at the final stages. It could not provide any further information about this “due to it being commercially sensitive”.

On June 6 a Change.org petition asking Swale council “ Get rid of Suez and get the original Biffa company back” to collect waste around the borough was set up. To learn more click here.

So far it has 207 signatures. After 10,000 signatures, petitions get a response from the government. After 100,000 signatures, petitions are considered for debate in Parliament.

Swale council confirmed that any income from penalties would be reinvested in the services that the authority delivers.