AN angry resident has condemned Conwy Council’s fortnightly refuse collections and claim it has caused vermin and seagull infestations on her home. The woman, who lives in Pentre Avenue, Abergele, but who asked not to be named, believes collection and recycling arrangements in the town are impossible to work with. "I do use the green box, but as I do not have a lot of tins or glass, I only have to put it out once a month," she said. "All of my other refuse builds up in bags and it stinks. Last summer we had seagulls nesting on my roof and terrorising my children as they knew there was a constant supply of food in the bags outside. "I have had mice in my house as they are attracted to the food, which nearly sent me into a nervous breakdown, not to mention the awful stench of the bags which are ripped open by cats. "It is a total disgrace to have to live like this." She has repeatedly contacted Conwy Council to request a second bin and has offered to pay for it herself, but was refused. Instead, the council suggested sending an environmental advisor to her house to discuss the issues. "I do not need counselling," she blasted. "I need adequate refuse collection and I am very, very angry about this." The woman does the bulk of her shopping at local supermarkets and blames the lack of space in her bin on excess packaging. "There are tons and tons of plastic packaging, that is where most of the rubbish is and so there is not adequate space for the rest of the stuff," she told the Visitor. "I do go to the tip two or three times per week. I want to recycle the plastic as well but it’s just finding the time to do everything." Cllr Mike Priestley, Conwy’s cabinet member for environment, defended the decision not to provide an extra bin. "Anyone struggling with alternate week collections needs to look at exactly what it is they’re throwing in the bin. "If your wheeled bin is overflowing I would argue there must be some recyclables mixed in there somewhere." "Plastic is the main culprit, but there are plastic recycling banks at Tesco, Abergele and at Somerfield in Pensarn, so you can drop before you shop." Conwy recycling officers can visit to offer help and advice on how to manage household waste and recycling. Telephone 01492 575337 to arrange. | 
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