FURIOUS residents have blasted the council over its claims that every home in Harrow now has a recycling blue bin.

Last week, the Harrow Times reported on the council's boast that the last blue bin had been delivered in the borough.

Since then, numerous readers have come forward complaining that they had yet to receive a bin and that they could be forced to wait weeks - if not months - for one to be delivered.

Douglas Lee, who lives in Merlin Crescent, Edgware, is one of three homes on his street still without a bin.

The avid recycler has bags full of newspaper, glass and plastic piling up at his home which rubbish collectors refuse to take away because has not got one of the new bins.

He said: "All we wanted was someone to tell us the truth and when we see in the newspaper that the council says every bin has been delivered it makes us even angrier.

"Its extremely frustrating having to separate all our rubbish and I've had to dump my newspapers at the local recycling skip.

"I might even have to go to a dump to get rid of all my other rubbish - but why should I have to do that?"

The bins were delivered to Mr Lee's street on May 18, but despite parking directly outside his house, council workers still managed to miss him out.

Mr Lee was told in mid-June that he would have to wait two weeks for a bin, but when he contacted the council this week he was told that it would not be delivered for another three weeks.

He said: "I have been ringing the council for six weeks to find out when we would get our blue bin and I have been given so many excuses.

"I've been told that the lorry delivering the bins had broken down, that the council could not afford to hire a new one and that they haven't even got any workers."

He was also told that there were about 2,000 more bins to be delivered.

Since February 2007, 70,000 blue bins have been distributed throughout Harrow.

The bins, which are collected every second Friday, are designated for materials such as plastic bottles, cardboard, glass and tin cans.

Households already have brown bins for organic waste and green ones for rubbish that cannot be recycled.

Backtracking on last week's boasts, a Harrow Council spokesman admitted some homes were still without a bin.

A council statement said: "The main phase of the roll-out of the blue bin to houses (previously using the green box) has been completed.

"We are now dealing with a small number of roads where local conditions require a more tailored solution."

The council said it was in the process of providing a similar scheme to existing flats in the borough, which up to now have not had any recycling facilities.

The statement said: "This process requires detailed survey of each site to determine the number of bins required and whether there is sufficient space for them.

"By the end of this year about a quarter of flats will be on this scheme. We expect to provide this service to all flats by 2009/10."

Anybody who still has a green box and has not received a blue bin should telephone the council's helpline on 0845 225 2600 or send an email to: publicrealm@harrow. gov.uk