A WAR veteran was disgusted by the mess binmen left on his driveway and then further angered by the way the council dealt with his complaint.

Eighty-year-old David Ellis, of Southall Avenue, Ombersley, said he could not believe it when he found litter strewn over his driveway on the morning of Thursday, January 5. Refuse collectors employed by Worcester City Council had picked up the black bags but left behind one of the paper recycling sacks.

He said: "I assume they picked up the bag and it broke but they then made no attempt to clear it.

"It was just left strewn all over the driveway and the pavement. It was disgusting." Mr Ellis - who served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War - said he phoned the council straight away but was told he would have to go through the correct procedures.

He said: "I phoned four times and my wife phoned twice. "I left it there. Nothing happened for 29 hours." The paper was eventually collected bet-ween noon and 1pm on Friday when Mr Ellis was out. He added: "There was no message or apology.

"When we phoned the council nobody would give us their names, not even the supervisors. It's the lack of information that annoyed us."

Mike Harrison, head of environmental services, apologised that the problem was not dealt with immediately.

He said: "We have had some problems with the quality of the bags and we are talking to the manufacturers. That said, it is actually part of the collectors' contracts to pick up rubbish they spill.

"It does not help us encourage recycling if someone has gone to the trouble of sorting it and then we do not collect it."