COUNCIL officers are searching through bags of rubbish to catch out residents who ignore the waste collection timetable...with warnings that fines will be handed out.

Over recent weeks there has been an ongoing battle on the streets of Canvey. Link Road and surrounding streets have become a dumping ground due to the wrong rubbish bags being put out for collection.

Castle Point Council currently collects black bag waste and recycled waste on alternate weeks.

Despite sending out three leaflets setting out the collection timetable, the council claims the wrong bags are still being put out by residents on the island.

A spokesman for Castle Point Council said: “The situation has improved but there are still a number of irresponsible residents who refuse to take notice of the information the council has provided and think it is acceptable to present their waste for collection at any time and expect the council to make additional visits to collect it.

“All households in the area have now received three leaflets advising of the collection arrangements and ward councillors and officers have spoken directly to a number of residents and informed them of the need to follow the advice in the collection calendar.

“This week the street scene officers have started sorting through incorrectly presented sacks in order to identify the culprits.

“If they ignore the letters sent to them and continue to present waste incorrectly we will take enforcement action and issue fixed penalty notices for flytipping.”

Residents have hit out at the fortnightly collections.

Sarah Mayo, of Link Road, said: “As unsightly as the bags are, I don’t understand why, with the large amounts of council tax paid each month, the council can’t collect all of the bags each week.

“In not doing so, it means we have to store black bags in our own gardens without wheelie bins provided and in this heat it isn’t pleasant.

“Also, these large mounds of bags are often dumped by people not from the roads they are left on.

“Someone reported they saw council workers going through bags to work out who they belonged to. Why not use that resource to just clear the bags?”