They fear the area will soon by taken over by rats and other vermin after telling how they hadn’t been emptied by city binmen since the beginning of March.

Residents of Glasgow flats have begged council crews to collect stinking bins that have created a “putrid” smell.

Ross Murray fears that overflowing communal bins outside his Saltmarket flat will soon by taken over by rats and other vermin after telling how they hadn’t been emptied by city binmen since the beginning of March.

The 25-year-old claims that despite numerous complaints from him and fed-up neighbours, Glasgow City Council still haven’t collected the bins with binmen refusing to tackle the mess, Glasgow Live reports.

Ross said: “They’re refusing to come out due to rats and apparently because they apparently can’t get access.

“However, it’s been left for so long that the bins are overflowing. I’ve phoned up twice and they keep telling me to give them seven days. My neighbours have done the same but we seem to be getting nowhere.

“They were supposed to come out on Monday (March 31), but they didn’t show again. It isn’t just for one close, but a whole street – and there are a lot of bins.

“We’re worried the rats will get worse. Usually, we see one or two a week, but it could become more frequent.

“The smell is horrid… it’s rancid. You’ve got rotten food in these bags. At night, I try and sit out at the back and I’ve had to move my seating area away from it.

“It makes you feel sick – it’s not nice at all.”

The housing association responsible for the flats, Wheatley Housing, has also been involved and collected what Ross believes to be around 100 bags overflowing from the bins.

However, environmental officers from the housing association weren’t able to collect them all, and the bins still remain full.

Ross added: “Wheatley came out on Monday and stayed here until around 1pm to wait for the binmen, but the council refused to collect them.

“They’ve come and taken away the worst of the overflow and the van was completely full. It’s not really made a dent into it though.”

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “A temporary issue with access has now been resolved and any build-up of waste has been dealt with.

“Collections are on schedule and we will monitor this area closely in case of any further issues.”

A spokesperson for Wheatley Homes added: “Bin collections are the responsibility of the council.

“Our teams stepped in to help remove the excess rubbish bags from the area, which will allow the council’s normal cleansing services to resume.

“We’ll also carry out regular inspections of the area to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”