Brits warned of Christmas rubbish nightmare with 28-day wait for bin collections

Thousands of Brits face a Christmas rat-astrophe after being forced to wait up to 28 days for festive rubbish collections – so binmen can have extra time off.

But while locals fear streets will be covered by mountains of discarded wrapping paper, Christmas dinner leftovers and dumped trees, leaving them prey to vermin.

However, having access to a shed could help millions of Brits from facing a Christmas rubbish nightmare as well as learning to crush rubbish as small as it can go.

Laura Bamborough, a refuse expert at Graden Buildings Direct, said: “Crush your rubbish as small as you possibly can to maximise your available bin space. Especially all those drinking cans and bottles – leave the lids off and flatten them. Stamp on big cardboard boxes until they’re flat and fold them down.”

She said that when the bins are maxed out, a run to the tip might be in order but until you can make the journey, you could temporarily make use of your traditional shed, garage or other outdoor storage.

She added: “Just make sure that’s the wrapping paper bag, not the Christmas dinner leftovers – waste food can attract rats.”

Residents already claim they are witnessing increased fly tipping with one disgrunted local noticing sofa beds and discarded children’s clothing on their local green.

Hertfordshire council said the closure was necessary to improve facilities which are widely used in the area including that around London’s third airport Stansted.