AN angry resident fears his street will become a target for rats because dustbin men keep missing collection.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said dustbin men often fail to show up on his section of Bury Road and on Starkie Road. He said at first they missed a round every other week but things came to a head when they failed to collect any rubbish for three weeks.

He said: "I rang the council and they told me a car was blocking the way. When it happened again, I rang them and was told road works were to blame. The bins start to smell when they have not been emptied for a while and they have attracted magpies. I am concerned that they will attract rats if this keeps happening. It is very unhygienic, there are a lot of children around here who play out on the streets and I do not want them to fall ill. My neighbours and other residents on the street are all getting really annoyed about it.

"I have tried to be nice about this problem, but it needs to be addressed and I am running out of patience." The complaint comes after Bolton Council's Waste Management and Environmental Services were praised for their work in an independent report and given two stars out of three.

A spokesman for the council said: "The road is not wide and road works have narrowed it even further, so the regular sized vehicle has not been able to get down.

"A smaller vehicle has been brought in and will be able to get down the road to carry out the round. There should no longer be a problem and residents should continue to leave their bins outside as normal."