CALLS are being made for street cleaners in Aberystwyth town centre as residents complain about rubbish being strewn over streets on collection day.

Aberystwyth residents have expressed their frustration regarding the nature of waste collection in the town.

Many residents don’t have access to sealed waste bins, leaving them to pile rubbish outside their houses come collection day.

Unfortunately, this has led to rubbish strewn over paths and roads over the town and local residents have taken online to express their anger.

Louise Elcock lives on Princess Street and last week was greeted by a street covered in waste.

She said: “As bags are put out for collection, a lot of them are left out overnight, then seagulls have a field day and rip them apart and the rubbish, some of it too disgusting to explain, is spread up and down the street.

“I’ve cleaned it up and re-bagged it on numerous occasions as I can’t bear to look at it.”

On how to solve the problem, Louise said: “Nothing but a few wheelie bins would sort the problem. “The council need to do something sooner rather than later. It’s seagulls at the moment but it won’t be long before the rats are a serious issue too. It’s not good enough.”

It is not only residents who are frustrated however, Aberystwyth town councillor Kerry Ferguson has been vocal about the issue.

Cllr Ferguson said: “Aberystwyth is quite unique in that we have a high population in an old town, which leads to its own problems in terms of lack of space for communal bins, lack of space in many town houses for wheelie bins and so on.”

However, Cllr Ferguson believes that residents have as much to do to solve this issue as Ceredigion County Council.

She added: “In my opinion a mix between needing the public to use the refuse collections properly, and a requirement for additional support from Ceredigion County Council in terms of rolling out the pilot schemes across the whole town would be ideal. I am really keen to see the roll out of the larger communal bins across town where feasible, and also to make the seagull proof bins more widespread.”

Kerry says that the town council have been in discussions with Ceredigion County Council since last summer and now residents are able to buy their own seagull-proof bins from the tourist information centre.

“We have acknowledged that the price (£10.50) may be off-putting, and we are in discussions with the county council to see if we can get a reduction on the price, or provide the seagull proof bins for free initially.

“One of the elements I am keen on is the fact that Ceredigion County Council does currently provide street cleaners in the town, and I feel that if with an initial investment we can reduce the amount of bags being ripped open, this will also allow the street cleaners more time to ensure the town is tidy, rather than spending what can be up to hours on a particular patch.”

A Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “The issues arising in Aberystwyth town centre on and around waste collection days are waste presentation issues. These arise because waste is not presented in either the right way and/or on the right day.

“The issues arising are almost exclusively ones, in a Ceredigion context at least, affecting Aberystwyth town centre. However, the onus and expectation for cleaning the mess does fall on our small but dedicated team of street cleaners.

“Therefore, as part of Caru Aber – Caru Ceredigion we would strongly encourage all town centre residents and landlords to play their part and take responsibility for their waste by making arrangements for it to be presented:

“Not only will this help keep the town clean and tidy it will ensure that our team of street cleaners can focus on ensuring that Aberystwyth remains a fantastic place to live and visit.

“We would like to extend sincere thanks to all those residents and landlords who, as elsewhere in Ceredigion, already have suitable arrangements in place for their waste presentation.”