A WORCESTER man fears there will be an infestation of rodents unless refuse workers take away a pile of rubbish left from Christmas.

Nigel Hutchins said mice have already been spotted in his neighbour's garden and near his house in Chedworth Close, Warndon. A neighbour has been putting down mice pellets to try to prevent the problem escalating.

The 44-year-old said it began when neighbours thought they would help refuse collectors by putting their bin bags together on land off Chedworth Close.

But he said the rubbish had been left there for more than a week and claims refuse workers refused to collect it because it was not left outside the individual houses.

"We knew we would have more rubbish over the Christmas period, so to help them out, we put all the rubbish together," said Mr Hutchins, who has lived in the road for eight years.

"Because there's a large amount in one area it would have made it easier for them. All they had to do was reverse and pick it up from one place.

"People here have done this before, and last Christmas it was fine.

"But the law changed last October and they are saying it's tipped there and they will not take it."

"We've got mice running outside here because of the rubbish," said Mr Hutchins, who lives with his wife Kim and three children.

A spokesman for Worcester City Council said they appreciated the neighbours' attempts to help but would not encourage it in the future.

"It might seem that it's helping us, but it attracts other people's rubbish," said Mike Harrison, head of operational services.

"We don't encourage arrangements of this kind at all.

"The idea is we collect from outside houses, even if it takes us a bit longer."

He said a special crew would be despatched to collect the rubbish soon.

Meanwhile, Worcester Garden Centre on Droitwich Road, is running a recycling scheme for Christmas trees and cards.

Discarded trees are chipped and used as mulch at the centre, while cards are collected by the city council for recycling.

"It's nice to be able to assist the city in being green," said centre manager Bob Tannahill.

"If anyone is chipping their own trees to use as mulch they shouldn't use it on acidic soil as it doesn't like it."

The recycling service is available until Tuesday, January 14.