RESIDENTS were left with bags of rubbish piling up outside their homes after they followed the wrong council’s collection dates.

Two separate councils collect refuse in Weymouth and some people read West Dorset District Council's collection times as their own although their rubbish is collected by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

Michael and Michelle Pearce were one of a number of residents in the Park District in Weymouth who missed their collection and have called for clearer advertisements in the future to ensure the misunderstanding does not happen again.

However, the councils said both sets of times were clearly printed in the Echo with the councils’ name and logo.

Mrs Pearce, 40, said: “We had a walk around and there were bin bags everywhere.

“The problem is the seagulls pulling the rubbish out overnight.”

Mr and Mrs Pearce live in a flat with a limited amount of room to keep their bin bags inside.

“The strange thing is that we keep seeing the dust cart go past and it would not take much for them to stop,” Mrs Pearce added.

“We live right across from the station so it’s not a very good welcome to Weymouth.

“They should have made the collection times clearer.”

The notice printed in the Echo from West Dorset District Council did include the council’s logo but some householders across the resort put their rubbish out on Tuesday, December 29 and missed their collection by a day.

A Weymouth and Portland Borough Council spokesman confirmed household waste and kerbside collection for Ranelagh Road was on Monday December 28.

He said: “I’ve spoken with our call centre and we think that there may have been some confusion with West Dorset District Council’s collection dates for the Christmas period especially for those whose normal collection day would have been December 25.”