Residents are being told to wrap food waste in newspaper to stop surge in maggots 3\Times Newspapers Ltd

RESIDENTS in north London are being urged to wrap food in newspaper to combat maggot infestations in wheelie bins during the hot weather.

Harrow Council said it had received reports of insects breeding in brown bins, which are used for compostable waste and collected on a weekly basis.

Susan Hall, the council's portfolio holder for the environment, said: "This is just common sense advice and in line with what the Government advises on food waste. Hopefully the problem will disappear when the heatwave passes but, in the meantime, beat the bugs by using newspaper for kitchen scraps."

Elsewhere, Hertsmere Borough Council, in Hertfordshire, said it was considering reverting to weekly collections to beat the sizzling heat.

The authority pledged to abandon its bi-weekly collection policy if temperatures reached 30C (86F) on five consecutive days.

"Hopefully the problem will disappear when the heatwave passes but, in the meantime, beat the bugs by using newspaper for kitchen scrap"

A spokeswoman said temperatures were being monitored to see if the requirement was close to being met.

In Epping, Essex, weekly collections were reintroduced in May by the council following feedback from residents, said an authority spokesman.

She said the policy, which also ran last summer, was intended to combat issues associated with "flies, maggots and smells".

Doretta Cocks, of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, said the hot weather highlighted problems associated with fortnightly collections.

"It just makes a nonsense of public health measures," she said. "It looks like this summer is going to be very hot. The hotter it is, the quicker material will decompose.

"It makes the bins very attractive to flies and there's also the smell. It makes it impossible for people with small gardens to enjoy the summer."