MAGGOTS are infesting waste bins after a Scottish council ordered residents to put food scraps in bins designed for garden waste.
Fife Council issued homes with bins for grass cuttings that are drilled with holes to let air circulate and assist composting.
But after residents were told to put waste food in the bins it proved irresistible to thousands of flies which crawled through the holes and laid maggots.
Disgusted Fifers reported some bins were inches-thick with a squirming mass of maggots as a result.
David Forrester, the owner of bin cleaning company in Dunfermline, said: “I had a phone call from a woman who was frantic saying there was maggots coming out the side.
“One woman got me to clean her brown bin because it was covered in maggots inside and out.”
Mr Forrester predicts that by next year, every bin in Fife will be crawling with maggots.
“Another woman was embarrassed because her neighbours saw the maggots coming out through the holes and onto the ground.
“But I told her not to worry because by spring everyone’s going to see maggots coming out the side of their bins.”
“Fife council are introducing 30,000 of these bins every 4 months until 2014. This means more bins will lead to more maggots.
“Just the other day I saw bin with at least 1,000 maggots in the bin.
“They are all over the lid, around the rim- at least 5mm thick at the bottom.”
Fife Council asked resident to use the bins solely for food waste as part of their new four-bin service being introduced.
Mr Forrester, who has been cleaning bins for over 20 years, said: “What’s going to happen is that the maggots don’t want to stay inside and try their damnedest to get out.
“Now people are going to see maggots on their pathways as they come out through the holes in the side.”
“The man who cleaned it said that with the grey bin there was still the same problem but there weren’t so many and it was contained because they grey bins don’t have the holes on the side.
“But now the flies are getting in so there is much more larvae and maggots.”
Last year one Fife resident blamed the brown bins after calls to deal with rats in Torryburn and High Valleyfield increased by 150 per cent.
Anne MacFarlane of Torryburn, said the rats were attracted to the smell of food coming from the holes.
Sarah Greaves from Rosyth, said: “I opened the bin and on the inside of the lid and at the top were maggots.
Chris Ewing, Fife Council’s senior manager for sustainability, explained that there should be no significant issue with maggots if householders use bio-bags correctly for food waste.
He said: “We have between 80,000 to 90,000 households and we are not aware of any significant problem regarding flies.
“Having said that, the presence of maggots in waste bins is not unknown.
“If you are on the new service please make sure food waste goes into the bio-bags we provide free of charge, tie them and out them in the brown bin.
“If you do get maggots then it’s always useful to have your bin washed out from time to time to remove residues that are attractive to flies and other potential pests.”
Mr Forrester argues that these bio-bags are not helping with the problem at all.
He said: “All you need is a bit of hedge or thorn to tear through the bag and then the maggots can get in.
“Even if the bag doesn’t rip, the heat in the summer will make the food sweat and maggots will be even more attracted to the bins.”
