Day Three and rubbish piles up on the streets

Up to 40 per cent of this week's refuse left out for binmen has still not been picked up.

There are fears that scavenging foxes and rats will make the situation worse. Some councils have been forced to order emergency collections but many areas were still off-limits to refuse lorries today as icy roads remained unsafe. In some areas the lorries were diverted to snow-clearing duties during the worst blizzard for 18 years.

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Nearly all councils cancelled domestic and business refuse and recycling collections on Monday and yesterday. There are also fears that snow predicted to fall later this week would further paralyse collections.

A spokesman for Southwark council said services had been disrupted and it was not yet known when they would be resumed. Lewisham council said refuse collections would start later today.

The spokesman said they would try to ensure all residents had a collection later this week, adding: "The priority at the moment is still road clearance but what tends to happen in this kind of situation is we put more crews on and they are happy to work overtime.

"We will also be out on Saturday when there are normally no collections."

Residents in Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth and Hammersmith & Fulham are among those who have already missed out on their weekly, or in some cases, one of twice weekly collections.

Stuart March, 32, a civil servant from Shepherd's Bush, said: "I appreciate there were problems getting here but it's been the third morning this week with no collection and as well as being unsightly it's really unhygienic. The roads and pavements still aren't gritted so I doubt they can get here before Friday and if that doesn't happen we'll have to wait over a week for it to get removed and that's not acceptable."

A spokeswoman for Westminster council insisted residents would not be adversely affected by the deployment of refuse collectors and said collections would happen later this week.

Hammersmith & Fulham council said: "We recognise that some people will have missed out on a collection in the first half of this week and we will be working very hard tomorrow and Friday to ensure extra shifts are added to those already planned so as much as possible of the waste and recycling is collected."

Pest control expert Rob Fryatt said: "At the time of year, and especially when it is snowy and cold, rats will be desperately seeking food and shelter.

"Uncollected rubbish lying around in the streets will be extremely attractive to them."