An infuriated homeowner has put a up sign outside his home counting the number of days since his bins were last collected.

Andy Duffus’ tally keeper – which he and his wife previously used as a countdown to their wedding day – has now reached a shocking 30 days without the bins being done.

The 51-year-old’s sign, outside his Sittingbourne, Kent, home has hit the milestone despite a new £152million bin collection contract coming into effect this year.

Residents across Kent have described feeling forgotten after waiting for up to six weeks to have their bins collected.

A new deal between Suez Recycling and Recovery UK and Ashford, Maidstone and Swale councils was agreed in December 2022 and launched in March with chaos throughout the county since.

Andy Duffus put up a sign outside his Sittingbourne, Kent, home to count the days since his last bin collection when problems began in April, and it his 30 days today

The 51-year-old is one of many residents in Kent who are unhappy at their bin collection situation since a new £152million bin collection contract came into effect in March

The counter is a repurposing of one originally used for Mr Duffus and his wife to count down to their wedding day

With the weather now turning warmer, Mr Duffus said if his bins are not collected by the weekend he will be forced to take his and his elderly neighbours’ rubbish to the tip himself.

‘We are on 30 days today,’ the civil engineer fumed. ‘When the council first changed the contractors we went 21 days without a collection.

‘After 17 days, I put my sign up. We went another 21 days without a collection and I was about to put my sign up again when they did a collection.

‘Before me and my wife Becci got married in June 2022 we had a counter that counted down the days until our wedding day.

‘We were discussing the bins and my wife, Becci, said, “How funny would it be if we made a giant counter for the bins?”

‘So I made a larger scale counter from the wedding counter and it drew quite a bit of attention.

‘We’ve had a few people beeping when they see me changing the days.

‘They say, “We’ve not had our bins taken in X amount of days”.

‘The big collection now is once a month instead of every week. It’s ridiculous.’

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Suez’s new £19m per year contract started on March 25 and will run for eight years.

The Mid-Kent Waste Partnership promised the new providers would improve reliability, reduce environmental impact and provide a more efficient service for the close to half a million people living under the collection of authorities.

However, many fed-up residents have now resorted to paying for their rubbish to be collected by private contractors.

Residents are asked to leave their bins at the end of their driveway, but father-of-four and stepfather-of-two Mr Duffus says many of his elderly neighbours are unable to do this.

‘We’re in a little village and, because all the bins are overflowing, there’s rubbish flowing all up the roads,’ he said.

‘It’s terrible. I get home every day and think, “Have they been emptied?”

‘The worst thing is that our council tax has been put up. With that, you expect that, in time, it’s going to get better.

‘But as soon as we went to paying more they started reducing our services.

‘In any other business or trade where they weren’t doing what was adequate, the contract would be cancelled or you would be taken to court as a rogue trader.

‘It’s a bitter pill to swallow. Swale Council said they don’t have the manpower, but I think it’s a lame excuse.

‘They have swapped everybody’s rounds around and the drivers are saying they don’t know where they’re going.

‘The cost of living is so high at the moment as well. They are taking a bit more of everything and we are really going backwards.

‘I would seriously look into finding a contractor that’s capable of providing the services.

‘A lot of our neighbours are retired and elderly – some are disabled. It’s not fair on them. We don’t really know what to do.

‘If the bins aren’t gone by the weekend I will have to take them down the tip myself, because it’s getting hot and they’re starting to smell. But I shouldn’t have to do it. It’s a dire situation.’

Mr Duffus said: ‘We’ve had a few people beeping when they see me changing the days. The big collection now is once a month instead of every week. It’s ridiculous’

Mr Duffus added that he believes the problems in local governance are deeper rooted and are not helped by a ‘rotten’ central government.

‘It’s hardly surprising when we have a government that lies to us every day,’ he said.

‘If it’s rotten at the top, so is everything else below. The whole country is in a state and it starts from the very top.’

Swale Borough Council conceded that ‘elements’ of its new waste contract ‘have not gone according to plan’ and apologised for the inconvenience to residents.

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A council spokesman said: ‘We knew there were going to be teething problems, as there always are when undertaking a large change, but the service being provided was not to the standard we, nor our community, expected.

‘Although the majority of residents have received the correct scheduled service, we are continuing to work with Suez to resolve any outstanding issues.

‘Collection crews have also been working incredibly hard, undertaking catch-up rounds over the weekends, and Suez has also been bringing in additional resources to assist with the collection of everyone’s refuse.

‘We understand your frustrations and thank you for continuing to bear with us while we settle into this new service.’

But the council spokesman added it wouldn’t tolerate abuse towards council or Suez staff, following reports of binmen being spat at.

The spokesman added: ‘We are sad to say we are receiving reports of binmen being sworn and spat at, and call centre staff being spoken to in an unacceptably aggressive manner and verbally abused.’

The authority says residents can report any missed bins on its website, within two working days of the scheduled collection, saying it ‘reads and listens’ to all concerns.