A rat-infested bin store overflowing with rubbish was ignored by the council for six weeks, a disgruntled woman has said.

Black bin bags and other waste has piled high for more than a month at Jan Hizzett's block of flats in Hill Lane.

Despite numerous attempts to try and get the council to take action over the amassing garbage, the mess was only cleared after Jan contacted the Echo.

Every week, Jan, resident of the block for eight years, said she watches from her balcony as Southampton City Council “ignore” the bags of rubbish.

The overflowing bin store (Image: Newsquest) The 59-year-old said the building was “forgotten about” on bin collection day more than six weeks ago.

Since then, the problem has gotten bigger with no more rubbish able to fit in the bins.

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She said: “I pay £1,100 for rent with council tax on top of that, and the bins are never collected.

“In the past two weeks rubbish has been spilling out of the bin store and onto the path.

“The bins have never been collected regularly in my time here, but it has not been this bad.

“Every week I report the missed bin collection to the council, and every week they come out and tell me it will be cleared.”

Jan Hizzett outside the overflowing bin storeJan Hizzett outside the overflowing bin store (Image: Newsquest) Ms Hizzett said rat traps have been installed by the company that owns the building to try and tackle the problem.

“I have seen so many rats run out from the store, across the grass, and down towards The Winston”, she said.

“I live in a flat on the top floor and the flies from the bags of rubbish come into my living room.

“I am spending money on items to get rid of them, and no one can keep their windows or doors open because of the flies and the smell.”

Due to poor health, Ms Hizzett said she cannot take her rubbish elsewhere and has to add her bin bags to the ever-growing pile.

It has also impacted parking, with the visitor space taken over by the building’s recycling bins, which had to be moved from the packed bin store.

After the Echo contacted Southampton City Council for a response on Monday evening, a spokesperson said they collected the bins on Tuesday.

They blamed the saga on "route optimisation efforts", resulting in changes to collection days for some.

This has "unfortunately caused a slight disruption for some bulk waste collections, including at this address", the spokesperson added.

"We understand the inconvenience this has caused the residents.

"We are working to ensure all properties are integrated smoothly into the revised collection schedule to prevent future occurrences."