A dustbin lorry drove past dozens of unemptied recycling bins in a street before stopping at the one household that had made a formal complaint.

When people reported the missed collection to Waltham Forest Council they were told that their neighbours’ bins couldn’t be emptied due to new Data Protection laws and every household would have to make a separate complaint.

Those living on Chester Road, Walthamstow were hoping to spruce up their road for a street party over the weekend, but instead had to work around more than 80 unemptied wheelie bins.

Recycling bins are usually emptied every Monday in the area, but this can vary.

On Tuesday June 26, neighbours say not only were the general rubbish bins emptied a day late, but their recycling bins were left unemptied and have sat there ever since.

Mick Regan lives in Chester Road. He said: “The rubbish collection is a bit hit and miss at the best of times. There is no guarantee when it will be collected. It has often been collected at 10pm. There doesn’t seem to be any control by the council over what the contractors do.”

Mr Regan used the council’s online reporting system to report the non-collection of his own bin, but says it remains uncollected.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy council leader and cabinet member for the environment, said: “A serious water leak in Lea Bridge Road affected some collections last week as access to the vehicle depot was affected. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. Crews have been working hard to catch up with any collections that were not taken.

“In this instance the contractor should have collected the unemptied bins. We will raise this with them to prevent it reoccurring.

“Collections on Chester Road should return to their usual schedule by today (Tuesday July 3).”