OVERFLOWING street litter bins are plaguing Worcester - with residents up in arms about the mess.

These images show the extent of the problem around the city, as bins in key locations burst at the seams with paper, bottles, tins and other rubbish piled high in broad daylight.

Despite having 727 street litter bins, some residents say they are spotted so full that waste spills out regularly, leaving an unsightly backdrop.

Residents have hit out at the rubbish, but Worcester City Council insists there has been an increase in the amount of litter being thrown into them recently and has upped collections as a response.

These images show bins in Hylton Road, a man gateway into Worcester, and Grandstand Road, by Pitchcroft, overloaded by waste.

Resident Derek Jones, 51, of Hylton Road, St John's, Worcester, said: "They seem to be full all the time around here, especially during the weekends people seem to dump all sorts of rubbish in them.

"It's a joke really, you wonder if anywhere near enough collections are going on."

Arboretum Residents Association says the problems north of the city are a "long-standing issue" and fear the spread of rats.

Paul Brohan, the secretary, said: "This is something which is raised at every single residents meeting - it's been a problem for a long time and we want something done about it.

"We do appreciate it's not a simple issue, but we want the council to help."

Ivan Smith, the chairman, added: "We've now got a problem with rats - time after time residents complain to us about the bins. They are constantly full.

"It's got worse recently, in my view."

The council, which spends more than £1 million a year trying to keep Worcester clean, says it is constantly altering the collection rotas to try and keep on top of it.

But bosses have admitted while some are emptied daily, others are done only once or twice a week.

A spokesman said: "We constantly monitor the use of street litter bins and make changes to either the bins or the frequency of them being emptied as necessary.

"In general there does appear to be an increase in the amount of litter going into these bins and there are some parts of the city where we have recently started emptying them more regularly.

"For example, the smaller post-mounted bins were in use at Grandstand Road until recently, but because they were being used so much we have now replaced them with the larger floor-standing bins.

"We have also now started emptying those bins twice a week rather than once."

* Have you spotted overflowing litter bins in Worcester? Email te@worcesternews.co.uk or call 01905 742248.