Overflowing bins “left for two months” mean office workers face “disgusting” conditions including maggots and flies.

Rubbish from Crossroads, apartments run by Paradigm Housing, which is above the businesses in The Parade, goes into a bin store at the end of the road which Watford Borough Council judged “unsafe”.

This has meant bin lorries have been unable to access the "festering" mess for around two months, according to the nearby business Eagle Cars - Watford.

Barry Deakin, of Eagle Cars, said he now only goes into the office once a week because of the “disgusting” conditions at the back.

“The rubbish in the bin has been there for months so the food is festering," he said.

“We have had maggots and flies entering our office as the bin store is next to our rear door.”

Watford mayor Peter Taylor said: “We have offered a solution which means waste can be collected without a truck entering this private road, which is unsafe at the moment. This has been communicated through emails and personal visits.

Watford Observer: Maggots behind and inside the officeMaggots behind and inside the office (Image: Barry Deakin)

“The council has also been working with Paradigm Housing Association, who have been organising private waste collections and using the designated collection point for the bins.

“We will continue to monitor collections to ensure that safety to our staff is paramount.”

Waste can apparently be picked up at the end of the service road, where it meets the A411, but Mr Deakin said he did not blame the residents for not being able to move heavy overfull bins down a pothole-ridden service road themselves.

Mr Deakin added that private waste collections have only taken away the bags that had spilled out from the bins, rather than their actual contents.

Watford Observer: The bins on August 17, after excess rubbish was clearedThe bins on August 17, after excess rubbish was cleared (Image: Barry Deakin)

A Paradigm Housing Group spokesperson said: “We’re both disappointed and sorry about the issues with the rubbish collection at Crossroads, St Albans House, in Watford.

“This is not the level of service we hold ourselves to, and not the level of service our residents or the commercial units deserve.

“We have been working with a third party to manually remove this rubbish on a weekly basis and are frustrated to discover this has not been happening to a satisfactory level.”

Watford Observer: August 23 (left) and August 29 (right)August 23 (left) and August 29 (right) (Image: Barry Deakin)

They added that Paradigm is taking steps to change the situation “immediately and for the foreseeable future” as well as working to get the current rubbish removed as quickly as possible.

A face-to-face meeting involving all parties is set for September 8.

Watford Observer: The service road in 2020, before it was judged unsafe.The service road in 2020, before it was judged unsafe. (Image: Google Street View)