People in newly-built flats at Gadbury Fold in Atherton have been locked in a lengthy battle with Wigan Council to get their bins emptied.

The Council blames the flats' developers, who they claim have reneged on an agreement to bring bins to the main road because they built an access road which was too narrow for the council bin lorry.
The explanation has angered Shalewood Court residents, who believe council bin men should walk the 80 metres to their flats to collect the rubbish.

An outraged Lindsay Anderson said: "Despite many calls and emails, the Council still say the bins are too heavy for their crew to move.
"Suggesting it's the responsibility of the builder of the apartments to move the bins each week is ridiculous.
"I'd move them myself but I am pregnant and, if the bins were on the street in the state they are in now, other residents would suffer too.
"All the residents in our building have complained and it's getting beyond ridiculous.

"They are Wigan Council's bins and it is Wigan Council's responsibility to empty them – it is NOT down to the people who built the apartments.
"When we moved in in February, the bins were being emptied regularly.
"There's no good reason why this service stopped."
Lindsay says she was stunned when the Council advised her to contact the builders herself.

She added: "The suggestion that the arrangement with the builders is the way forward is ridiculous, as the bin crew WERE emptying our bins at one point.
"I can't understand why builders would agree to take bins out after the work had been finished. They'll have contracts in other towns – why would they agree to come back each week and move the bins?"

A spokesperson for Wigan Council said: "The only way down the access road would be by mounting the pavement, which Health and Safety requirements prevent us doing, or have one of our operatives drag bins a full 80m to the road, which is also unacceptable, due to Health and Safety concerns.
"During construction, developers used a JCB to move the bin close to an access point. We were assured this would continue but clearly it has not.
"We suggested the ideal solution would be for the developers to build a new bin storage areas closer to the road, but they have not done this.
"We sympathise with the occupiers and are doing all we can to assist but in this instance the responsibility lies with developers, not the Council.
"We are contacting the developer to remind them of this."

A Spokesman for Bryant Homes said: "We are liaising with the property management company for Shalewood Court and hope to have the issue resolves quickly."