Disgruntled tenants say it is “ridiculous” that they have gone a month without having their bins collected.

Barnet Borough Council wrote to people living in Chatteris Court, Finchley Lane, Hendon, on November 10, telling them their dustbin collection days would change from a Tuesday to a Friday starting the following week.

Since then, rubbish has been left to mount up at the side of their block of flats.

Rosemary Lalani, a director of the block’s right to manage scheme, said: “This is ridiculous. We haven’t heard anything. I have emailed, faxed and phoned, but haven’t heard anything. If you look around the area, nobody else has been missed out. The fact we have a letter shows we are on the system.”

Ms Lalani, who works in a doctor’s surgery in Finchley, added: “The arrangement has always been that they will collect from the bin area. It would be a risk to health and safety to leave them out on the side. If we have had problems in the past, they have always been rapid to respond.”

Jennifer Morris, who is also a director of the scheme, said: “We’ve no idea why it’s happened. Before, they’ve collected our rubbish on a regular basis. How can they just start missing us out? We have been ignored.

“We are concerned about rats and foxes. It looks like some animal has come and ransacked it. We cannot just leave it in the state it’s in. We’re worried it will get to the point where the system says they don’t empty overflowing bins, and it’s not our fault.”

Mrs Morris, who has lived at the flats for 11 years, added: “The irony is they asked me to be on a panel to talk about rubbish in August, at Barnet House in Whetstone. I represented Hendon.”

Barnet Council has apologised for the delay in collecting the bins.

A council spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to the residents of Chatteris Court – we have now collected all the waste for the block of flats. The missed collections were due to a rescheduling error which has now been rectified. Normal collections will resume from Friday.”