A Northampton woman has described her horror at discovering a rat while sorting through bin bags stored in her shed after refuse collectors repeatedly refused to take her rubbish.
Holly Laing, 27, said she and her partner Sam had been forced to keep excess waste in their shed because their wheelie bins were too full. She claimed bin men had refused to empty the bins as the lids could not close properly, a common safety issue with mechanical bin lorries.
In a TikTok video, Holly showed herself attempting to move bags from the shed to her car for a tip run. She noticed the bags had been chewed, raising suspicions of rats. While lifting a bag, she spotted a rat inside and ran out in shock.
She called Sam for help, who used a garden fork to drag an IKEA bag out of the shed. When he tipped it over, the rat ran back inside. They then double-bagged the rubbish and checked for more rats before taking everything to the tip.
Holly admitted the situation was their own fault, saying, 'Lesson learnt.' Local councils often refuse to collect bins with lids that cannot close, as overfilled bins pose a risk during mechanical lifting.
