RESIDENTS on one Weston street are campaigning for a community bin after saying their neighbourhood has become a rat-infested ‘slum’.

Residents and business-owners on Upper Church Road say black bags are frequently left strewn across pavements and the street, leading to infestations of vermin and maggots.

One group is now lobbying North Somerset Council and its refuse contractor May Gurney to stump up the cash for a communal bin facility for residents to dump their waste in and keep it off the streets.

Resident Prudence Curtis says the lack of space for people to keep their rubbish bags in leads to them being dumped on the street outside their homes.

She said this is compounded by the fact that May Gurney does not now pick up rubbish left in black bags, but only grey bags.

She said: “I’ve seen rats running around and maggots crawling around on several occasions – it’s like we’re living in squalor.

“Living in a slum is not my idea of fun.

“I bought my flat 14 years ago – the area has become unrecognisable since then, it’s shocking.”

She is currently negotiating with North Somerset and May Gurney on behalf of a group of residents who want to see the introduction of a bin in Raglan Place.

She added: “And there’s also the problem of people having to dump it on the pavement outside in the street – I’ve seen a young couple with a baby in a pram having to walk on the road just to get around the bin bags which have piled up.”

Matthew Wyatt, who works at his parents’ shop, Shopping Basket, said: “It’s ridiculous, something needs to be done about this.

“There are no gardens for people to put their rubbish bags in, so that creates problems as people have to put them on the road – there are several blind people living on the road and it can create problems for them.”