Refuse arrangements on housing estates

Mrs Long rented a ground-floor council flat. The tenants in her block disposed of refuse by placing it in rubbish chutes that ran from walkways down to a communal bin in a chamber by her flat.

She complained about the smell of rubbish blocked in the chutes, overspilling, failure to keep the system clean and maggot infestations. Bulky items were often left next to her door.

Tenancy conditions required the council to take reasonable steps to keep the estate "clean and tidy" and refuse facilities "in repair and proper working order". The council said it had complied as it had awarded an in-house deal to a specialist cleaning team.

But the judge decided the refuse facilities could no longer cope with the amount and size of rubbish generated and that reasonable steps had not been taken to address this. He awarded Mrs Long £13,500.

The council appealed but the case was rejected. Although the refuse system was in proper working order, the estate was not clean and tidy and the council had not taken steps to keep it so. It could not rely on "contracting out" because it had not taken the necessary steps to adequately supervise the contractor's performance.