RESIDENTS on a Thurrock housing estate who have been complaining about a lack of bin collections have been told they are part of the problem.

Bin collections in the area of Caspian Way in Purfleet have been missed or delayed with some residents saying there have been weeks between collections and they pointed a finger of blame at Thurrock Council.

However, the council has responded by saying that breaches in how rubbish is placed in communal waste bins is the cause of the problem.

A statement to Thurrock Nub news says: "There has been an ongoing issue at this location with the recycling bins being regularly contaminated with non-recyclable waste.

"Our services have established contact with the managing agent of the site to help educate and inform residents how to separate and present their recycled waste to ensure this issue is resolved moving forward.

"An initial visit to Caspian Way this week identified that there was a large amount of overflowing side waste present in the bin chambers. Crews subsequently visited and cleared all the waste at this site on Wednesday, 24 February."

Bin crews have also had problems actually getting to the bin sheds behind blocks of apartments and the bins of private houses because of bad parking.

Some of the residents on the estate took to social media to criticise their neighbours and called for more common sense and consideration when parking vehicles on the narrow streets of the estate.