FRUSTRATED residents are kicking up a stink over rotting rubbish on a Portland Street.

Inhabitants of Fortuneswell and Coastguard Road say that despite dozens of complaints Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has not shifted it.

Now they claim the 25 black bags, which have been there for nine days, are a danger to health because they stink out Coastguard Road and encourage diseased rats.

Barbara Burden, 60, of Coastguard Cottages, said: "They were supposed to take them, not the Monday just gone, but the previous Monday.

"I even called the environmental health department and they said they couldn't do anything.

"But what about the rats? We've got enough of those on Portland already - it's a health hazard."

Mrs Burden said the problem began when Weymouth and Portland Borough Council changed from collecting rubbish in bin bags to wheelie bins.

She added: "I've got a wheelie bin but there are some houses around where they aren't suitable so they still use bags.

"They are their bags but no one picks them up. It's so frustrating. I thought the council had a legal obligation to pick up rubbish."

Mrs Burden added that several refuse collectors had been to the homes but they had refused to take the bags because they were there to collect recyclable materials.

Neighbour and pensioner Nancy Gurr, of Coastguard Road, has also had her nose put out of joint.

She said: "I could really smell it when I went out there this morning. I've rung the council three times and they write it down and say it will be dealt with as a matter of urgency and nothing gets done.

"I think we pay enough council tax for them to do their job."

Miss Gurr added that she had now written a letter to the council in the hope that a paper request might get a response.

A spokesman for Weymouth and Portland Borough Council said: "What we've been asking residents to do is put the bags in their gardens.

"What we think has happened is that the piles of bags have been dumped together and looked like fly-tipping which is dealt with in a slightly different way.

"However, we will be collecting the rubbish by the end of today at the very latest."