Harrow Conservatives have urged their Labour counterparts to make the garden waste service a priority over the next four years following missed collections.

The council apologised to Harrow resident Catherine O’Neill, after she was left with overflowing brown bins for several days.

She described the whole collection service as a “fiasco” and said she was disappointed by the council’s “nonchalant attitude” towards the issue.

“Somebody has to do something about it because it’s a real problem,” the 64-year-old said.

“People end up fly-tipping or putting [their waste] in the green bin because they can’t get on with doing their gardens otherwise.

“What makes me mad is that I’m paying for this service; and I’m not the only person who’s had trouble.”

The subject of brown bin collections has been fiercely debated ever since it was introduced and was a hot topic in the run up to the 2018 borough elections.

Paul Osborn, leader of Harrow Conservatives, said it is a key issue, which must be resolved as quickly as possible.

He said: “There are three things which we need to focus on in Harrow: crime, fly-tipping and the bin collections.

“This last one is the thing the council has most control over and they need to provide a good service.

“We have been saying for a long time that we need to fix the problem, but we need to see some decisive action.”

The council acknowledged that the bins had been left out for longer than they should have but noted that they have since been picked up.

It added that Ms O’Neill, who is disabled, has been added to a list for assisted collection, which means she no longer has to drag the bins to the front of her home.