Theresa May has hit out at Sutton Council following a chaotic start to the borough’s new bin collection programme.

The Prime Minister attacked Sutton Liberal Democrats following a query by MP Paul Scully during Prime Minister’s Questions at the House of Commons on Wednesday, April 19.

Mr Scully, Conservative MP for Sutton and Cheam, said: “I have seen rats and fly-tipping as a result of bins not having been emptied for up to three weeks across Lib Dem run Sutton following a shambolic change to the refuse collections.

“When bin collections make the national headlines you know something has gone wrong.”

He then asked Mrs May whether councillors should be held accountable should anything go wrong following a major policy change.

In response, the Prime Minister said: “My honourable friend raises a very important question. It is an issue that actually matters to people up and down the country.

“It is our goal to reduce litter and littering in Britain to make sure that our high streets, our villages and our parks are the cleanest and most pleasant places that they can be. We have published the first ever litter strategy for England.

“We are supporting frequent bin collections, but from what he says the Liberal Democrat-run Sutton Council is doing it shows not only that the Lib Dems charge the highest council taxes, but under them you pay more and get less.”

Thousands of people across the borough were stunned to find piles of rubbish were left to fester and new bins were not delivered to homes after waste management company Veolia began the mainly fortnightly service on Saturday, April 1.

Read more: Borough reacts to chaotic new collections

The chaos continued when 1,150 residents queued outside B&Q, in Sutton Court Road, in a bid to get a second green recycling bin, which people criticised as being too small.

Read more: Documents reveal action taken by Veolia following chaotic roll out of new bin collection service

Documents later shown to the Sutton Guardian revealed Veolia took urgent action to bring the situation under control.

Steps taken by Veolia include deploying afternoon support teams to deal with missed collections and a £10 incentive to each waste collector for completing work on their schedule as they learned new routes.

Have you still not had your rubbish collected, or noticed an increase in fly-tipping? Email: anders.anglesey@london.newsquest.co.uk