RESIDENTS on the St John's estate are being urged to use their wheelie bins rather than putting household rubbish in black bags and leaving it outside their homes.

A resident rang the Guardian complaining that neighbours leaving their rubbish in the garden were causing a terrible mess and rats had even been spotted.

A Vale Royal Borough Council spokesman said: "We know there have been some problems with residents filling black plastic bags with their rubbish and putting them out instead of using their wheelie bins properly.

"The caretaker has been around and removed a lot of the rubbish, but we will be putting out a newsletter to remind people.

"We know this is causing cats and dogs to rip the bags open and if there is a problem of rats we will be looking into it."