SCORES of wheelie bins have been repeatedly left unemptied in a York street after parked cars blocked access for council bin lorries.

Resident Richard Bowen said the bins in Farrar Street, off Lawrence Street, had been left uncollected for several days on three occasions so far this year.

"There has been no attempt by the council to prevent or alleviate the problem or keep residents informed," he claimed.

"It is worth noting we all received a very curt letter last year threatening fines to anyone who put bins out early or left them out late."

Andy Kelly, waste operations manager at City of York Council, said its lorries had been experiencing difficulties in accessing Farrar Street every other Monday due to poorly parked vehicles at the Lawrence Street junction, which had prevented them reversing in.

"Our normal practice is that we try later in the day and if we still cannot get access, try again the following day," he said.

"However, we are not permitted to commence domestic collections until 7am and as Farrar Street is over 160 metres in length it's not possible for us to walk in and collect and return nearly 70 bins, particularly while leaving a large vehicle unattended on a major road junction."

He said the council had only one smaller collection vehicle on the fleet, which could get down the street, but the number of bins was more than the vehicle could carry and would mean at least two trips, taking time when the vehicle had dedicated work to do out in remote rural areas.

He said cars were parked at the top of the road by people working in the city centre and highways was considering extending yellow lines around the junction, but this would require consultation with local residents, as it would reduce the amount of parking available to them. There is also a cost to this exercise and it is not a quick fix. Temporary measures are not an option."

He said that for the time being, the council would continue to attempt collection on the scheduled day or return until collections were carried out.