HOUSEHOLDERS in East Hampshire are still having major problems with the new system of refuse collection introduced by the district council, which is into its fourth week.

But district councillors are urging residents to persevere because they believe the system will work

The new alternate weekly collections (AWCs) are planned so that one week household refuse is collected followed by the recyclables and garden refuse the next week.

A total of 19,000 households in Petersfield, Bramshott, Liphook, Whitehill, Bordon and Grayshott started the new system four weeks ago.

At the same time a further 13,000 households still operating on the old refuse collection system were supposed to be given a new fixed day for collection.

But Liss residents, still operating on the old system of collection, have complained that their bins have not been emptied on the right day for three weeks.

One frustrated householder, Rita Greer, told EHDC's head of environment and sustainability Steve Read this week: "Parts of Liss have deteriorated into medieval standards of hygiene.

Residents at Bramshott Chas, say they have not had a collection since May 26 despite repeated phone calls to the council and promises that refuse will be collected.

And at Sandy Lane in Hammer one householder has threatened to dump her waste at EHDC's Penns Place headquarters, claiming she has not had a collection since May 14.

Liphook resident Jeremy Austin-Olsen who has just started the new system, told The Herald he queued for nearly 45 minutes to dump his rubbish at the Hampshire County Council amenity site in Bordon.

Mr Austin-Olsen said he had taken his rubbish to Bordon on Sunday because his bins were overflowing.

"The traffic was chock-a-block from the amenity centre down to the traffic lights and big lorries presumably bringing in new skips to cope with the demand were having difficulty manoeuvring because of the size of the traffic jam. People who weren't heading for the tip were overtaking on the wrong side of the road and it was mayhem," he said.

At a meeting of EHDC's central area community committee on Tuesday chairman Bob Ayer said officers were holding regular meetings with the managing director of Onyx to ensure the company was acting to resolve outstanding problems with the refuse and recycling service.

"The majority of problems," he said, "stem from management changes made to refuse rounds in some parts of the district, particularly Liss, which have not yet switched to AWC."

He said there had also been problems caused by the slow delivery of recycling bins to some properties, but the majority had now been delivered.

"Onyx have given assurances that the backlog of missed properties would be largely caught up by Wednesday June 12," said Mr Ayer,

"Where necessary Onyx will shortly send a letter to residents explaining their correct day and week for collection, with an apology.

"Onyx have also agreed to take out advertisements in the local press apologising to our residents and explaining the steps taken to resolve the problems."

Judy Onslow told the meeting the poor start to the new system was very disappointing for the team at EHDC, where officers had worked hard to get it off the ground.

"It could have been a lot smoother," she added.

"Everyone has been working so very hard around the clock to do something we know will work," and the problems had been caused by Onyx, she stressed.

In a letter to EHDC this week Mrs Greer told Mr Read that Liss was inside an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty:

"At the moment it looks like an area of outstanding filth. The general impression is of a Third World village, not a third millennium one."

The large bins in the car park were overflowing and even more refuse was piled up in plastic bags. Strong winds had blown the rubbish round the car park and out into the village centre, she said.

q This week businesses in Petersfield have been receiving customer satisfaction questionnaires from Onyx, which is offering a chance to win a weekend break in Paris.

The leaflet tells customers: "At Onyx we are committed to excellent levels of customer service combined with value for money and a culture of continuous improvement."