A mother-of-two whose Cowley home was being invaded by hundreds of maggots was told she would have to wait weeks before council workers cleared the infestation.

Rebecca Wimble, who lives in Horspath Road, said she was horrified by Oxford City Council's response.

Miss Wimble, 26, first spotted the maggots in her bin on June 11 and tried her best to deal with the infestation herself.

But when cleaning out the bin with bleach failed - and the maggots returned in greater numbers - she contacted the Town Hall to ask for help.

She said: "The maggots are out the front of the house, covering my driveway and coming through my front door even. I was told it was going to take three weeks to get anyone out to have a look and they could not even come out and collect my rubbish earlier, which was the source of the problem.

"They're absolutely everywhere. It's disgusting and soon they're going to start smelling and attracting flies."

Miss Wimble, who has two young daughters, said she had to keep her children shut inside because of the infestation.

She said: "They told me it would take so long because there was a problem with maggots and pest control at the moment and there was a high demand for it.

"I think it is absolutely disgusting that it's going to take this long to get rid of dirty things like maggots.

"I need them gone now, not in three weeks."

Miss Wimble said she would have taken the rubbish to the tip herself in advance of her normal collection but she cannot drive.

She was advised to put down washing up liquid - which she had already tried.

Neighbour Anne Marie Hughes, 34, said: "Every time you put a bit of rubbish in the bin by the time of the collection the maggots are crawling around the bins and out of them.

"I've put all sorts of products down but nothing works.

"I've lived here for six years but I've never had it to this extent before."

City council spokesman Annette Cunningham could not confirm exactly how long Miss Wimble had been told she would have to wait but said: "There is currently a waiting time of approximately two weeks for cases of this type, which is normal for this time of year.

"Our environmental health team gave advice and offered to visit to investigate the cause of these maggots but the offer was declined.

"While unpleasant, maggots are not a direct threat to health."