A housing provider has apologised after overflowing rubbish that spilled out onto the road attracted flies and caused grief to residents.

Residents who live in Union Place in Cawte Road, Shirley, were plagued by overflowing rubbish from a shared bin shed outside the building owned by Stonewater Housing for more than a month.

The large pile of waste got so bad that it attracted flies, forcing one resident to tape the vents on their windows in a bid to prevent them from getting inside the property.

One resident of Union Place, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s been awful and an ongoing issue for years. 

“It just gets to the point where you no longer want to contact Stonewater because even when you do, nothing gets done.

“I had to Sellotape the vents in my windows to prevent flies from getting in because they were attracted to the rubbish.

“I shouldn’t have to be hoovering up flies when I get home from work, but the rubbish just gets out of control, and we’re left to deal with the aftermath.”

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Tony Weafer, founder of Facebook community group – Shirley and Freemantle Watch – told the Echo the rubbish situation has been “absolute chaos”.

He said: “I walk down Shirley Road and the surrounding areas, and I first became aware of the rubbish building up last year.

“It just becomes impossible – some people aren’t being entirely responsible because I’ve seen a mattress left in there, a fridge, a freezer, and if you think the rubbish outside of the bin shed is bad you should really see what it looks like inside, you can’t move.”

Stonewater Housing cleared the rubbish on Monday after being contacted by the Echo.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Stonewater said: “We’re really sorry that customers at Cawte Road have been experiencing problems with the bin area.

“Our contracting partner will be visiting to clear the area later this week, while the skip will be removed as soon as possible.

“We will follow up with the local authority on the progress of the area improvement plan and raise our concerns about waste collection at the scheme.

“In the meantime, we will write to customers to remind them of the importance of disposing their waste properly.”