A Rishton mother has slammed rubbish collection schedules after finding a sea of maggots' crawling through her dustbin.

The recent hot weather has led to discarded food scraps quickly decaying in outdoor bins and becoming breeding grounds for flies.

However, Hyndburn Council only collects household rubbish once every two weeks and one resident is now finding her dustbins are becoming a health hazard.

The 30-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, said the situation was becoming unbearable at her Harwood Road home in Rishton.

The mother-of-one added: "It is horrendous.

"With all the hot weather the old food has fermented and is attracting flies.

"I opened the bin the other morning and things were crawling everywhere. It was like a sea of maggots. It stinks to high heaven."

Coun Peter Clarke, cabinet member for refuse and recycling issues, said: "We do sympathise with this resident, as this is another unfortunate side-effect of the extreme temperatures we've had recently.

"Other councils and agencies have had the same problems.

"And we would advise residents to wrap food in plastic bags before placing it in the bin and to make sure that the lid is kept closed."