A WASTE collection company says it has ‘taken steps’ to address overflowing bins in the city, although it refused to reveal what these actions were.

City councillor Richard Udall condemned Papa John’s and Wokstar, in St John’s, Worcester, for the state of their bins on Monday.

However, the two takeaways blamed the mess of the waste collection company, Biffa, which did not pick up their rubbish last weekend.

Worcester City Council has been considering issuing warnings against the two companies, in Bush Walk, which could ultimately result in court action.

Aaron Berry, manager of Wokstar, said: “One of the bins is ours. We have separated it from the Papa John’s bin now. We don’t allow our rubbish to be left around the area.

“Biffa [a waste collection company] are responsible for collecting it twice a week and I’ve been told there was a large vehicle blocking access to the bins over the weekend.

“They weren’t able to make the collection. If they don’t collect on time, the rubbish builds up. The overflowing bags were from Papa John’s, we had to have words with them as it’s fly-tipping.”

Mr Berry said Biffa collects rubbish from both of the bins, however he said Wokstar put its excess bags in the back of the store.

He added that he understood why the council had to take enforcement action over the overflowing bins.

Jack Faizey, manager of Papa John’s, said: “We had no choice but to put them [the bags] to the side of the bins as Biffa wasn’t picking them up. We called them, they said it’s because one of their lorries broke down.”

Mr Faizey took full responsibility for the bags around the bins and apologised for any inconvenience.

He added that he had moved the business's bin so that people on mobility scooters can get past.

A spokesperson for Biffa said: “Biffa takes customer satisfaction very seriously. We are aware of the situation in both cases and steps have been put in place to address these two separate instances.”

However, Biffa would not tell the Worcester News what steps it took, nor whether it failed to collect the bins over the weekend.

Worcester City Council, which reportedly previously fined Papa John's for littering, declined to comment in response to Papa John’s and Wokstar’s claims that the mess was Biffa’s fault.