Colchester residents fume as Slug and Lettuce bins blight alley

Swan Passage, in Colchester, is an alleyway which connects George Street and Maidenburgh Street, in Colchester. 

The area, however, has been blighted by bins from popular bar Slug and Lettuce, which backs onto the site.

Site - the Swan Passage alley off Maidenburgh Street (Image: Google)

Speaking to the Gazette, one nearby business owner said: “Slug and Lettuce keep adding more and more contract bins and littering this alleyway.

“There are now more than 20 1,100 litre container bins - 25,000 litres of garbage.

“They do not own the passage and have a bin courtyard. They have no right to leave rubbish there.

“The passage is littered with broken glass, human excrement and rats. It is pure corporate laziness and looks like a landfill."

Overflow - there are plenty of bins in Swan Passage (Image: Public)

Resident Julie Robinson has lived in the road for more than a decade.

She said: “The Slug and Lettuce has changed managers a lot, so you might get to know a manager and they keep it clean but it all changes and the rubbish comes back.

“It is an old ancient medieval alleyway of historical interest but not somewhere you want to bring tourists.

“You expect noise and things from bars, I don’t have a problem with that, but you don’t expect all their rubbish outside the front door.

“They just don’t care.”

Dirty - some of the rubbish behind the bins in the alley (Image: Public)

Bosses at Slug and Lettuce have now responded.

A spokesman said: “We have a number of bins situated in the alleyway as directed by the local authority which enables our fire exit to remain clear.

“Unfortunately, we have incidents of others putting rubbish into our waste and recycling containers and we are looking to reduce the number of bins, as well as working on a solution to better secure the containers and to prevent this going forward. 

Venue - The Slug and Lettuce in Colchester (Image: Google)

“We would ask the residents of Swan Passage to contact us directly to discuss how we can work together going forward.”

A spokesman for Colchester Council added: “If an accumulation of refuse occurs on private land – as appears to be the case behind the Slug and Lettuce in Swan Passage – the landowner is responsible for its removal.

“The council's food and safety team has been made aware, as they deal with waste management of food premises, and will continue to monitor the situation.”