A group of pensioners were left with overflowing bins after their collections were missed for three weeks in a row.

Alan Rubenstein, who lives in Regent’s Park Road, Finchley, described the pile of rubbish left in the bin store at his block of flats as a “health hazard”.

He said the recycling bins were collected but the domestic waste was not picked up by the council.

The flats, in Opal Court, are home to seven pensioners, and Mr Rubenstein said some of the older ones were “really upset” about the waste.

He said: “It was smelling awful. We are opposite the farm – there are foxes coming in and out.

“They gave me a reference number, but no-one turned up to collect the bins. I had to get in touch with a councillor.”

Mr Rubenstein said he was copied into a council email on Tuesday (December 17) saying the bins had been emptied – but when he checked, they were still overflowing.

He said the rubbish was finally cleared on Wednesday, shortly after he told the council he was planning to contact the Barnet Times.

A council spokesperson said: “We apologise sincerely for the missed collections at Opal Court. We can confirm that the bins were emptied yesterday (December 18).

“Unfortunately, due to crew error, the collections were missed, and we did not rectify this as quickly as we would wish to.

“We will monitor collections over the coming weeks to ensure they take place as expected.”