STAND-OFF between a council and villagers over a new waste collection scheme has resulted in a four-week build up of rubbish.

Residents in the Copeland Road and Edith Terrace areas of West Auckland have been told by Wear Valley District Council to leave their new wheelie bins at the end of their street.

But residents are refusing to do so, and say that the council has reneged on an earlier promise to collect rubbish from outside their homes and that leaving them at the end of the street restricts access.

The refuse has now stood untouched for a month and residents say it is attracting vermin.

Now the council has offered an olive branch to residents.

Max Coleby, the council's acting director of community services, said: "We've assessed the difficulty by not getting the wagons down the back lanes.

"If they don't want to leave them at the gable ends, they can store their black bags in the wheelie bins, then on collection day leave the bags outside for collection.

"We think that's reasonable. They're a canny set of people but there's a point where the council has to act reasonably and we think we have done that." More than 29,000 wheelie bins were delivered across the district throughout March and April, and were designed to streamline the area's waste collection service.

Resident Gary Russell, of Copeland Road, explained the stance of the villagers, saying: "The council are not providing a full service, they're just providing a part service. We are still having to do the council's refuse collection work.

"If half the street of Copeland Road and Edith Terrace were to put wheelie bins at their nearest gable end, there would be 44 in total, blocking the roads for exit and access."

One resident even took the step of dumping her rubbish in a number of black bags outside the council's headquarters at Crook in protest.

West Auckland councillor Margaret Douthwaite said that she was working hard to try and find a solution suitable to both parties.

"I'm concerned about the waste that is standing there," she said. "It's still building up and it's got to be resolved. But I'm quite sure it will be resolved."