Trial replacing bins with stacks rubbished by councillor who branded it "a stap back in time"

But the three-month trial is making a difference on May Street, Baker Street, Cambridge Street and Strathmore Avenue, according to the council.

It told residents that domestic (black bins) and dry recycling (green bins) would no longer be emptied. Instead, it’s collecting “up to six sacks of each waste type on each collection day”.

But the policy has been labelled “a step back in time”, by interim Conservative group leader on the council and Poets councillor Aslam Khan.

A council spokesman said in a statement: “We’ve been monitoring the streets, which are part of the waste sack trial. So far, the trial hasn’t resulted in an increase in rodent activity.

“There’s a noticeable improvement in the local area, which is much cleaner with no bins on the streets or loose litter. We’ll continue to gather feedback from residents on how the trial is performing.

“It’s intended as a potential solution to the issue of the few streets where bins are permanently stored on the pavement, causing obstructions. There are no plans to implement the trial throughout the town.”

Cllr Khan said: “Luton is already considered to be one of the worst for rubbish, littering and flytipping,” he explained. “This will add to the problem and the image of the town.

“The council could look at the alternative, such as communal bins, which happens with the flats in Luton currently, instead of people putting sacks on the road.

“It’s a money-saving exercise. The worry is that it’s spread across the town after this trial. This won’t be good for our environment or for the health and wellbeing of residents.

“Rats are a common problem in Luton and the numbers are growing. We’ve so many problems with rats and I’ve seen foxes on our streets. When you have all the sacks on the street, there’s a health risk if any of these vermin subsequently enter people’s properties.

“Their reasoning is that people can’t get by the bins on pavements, so anyone in wheelchairs and mothers with pushchairs are unable to get through. The bin bags are just the same. People will be tripping over those and spreading the rubbish across the street.

“That’s not a good enough excuse when there are alternatives of providing communal bins where people can put their rubbish in a safe place,” he added.

“When the council considers cost savings, huge amounts of money are being spent on consultants and agency workers through the failure to recruit its own staff.

“We set up an academy going back several years and that should provide a pipeline of social workers, which would have reduced our expenditure enormously.

“That’s been a failure. So residents are being punished instead for the council’s own shortcomings by saying ‘you can’t have bins on the streets’. Skips could be trialled in these areas, where possible.”