KANSAS residents have gone weeks without their trash being picked up by sanitation workers, and the smell has gotten so bad that neighborhood kids cannot play outside.

Trash bags have lined the curbs in Johnson County, Kansas, about 22 minutes south of Kansas City.

Local resident Rebecca Kress told The Kansas City Star that she had been hit with the stench of the garbage stockpile when she opened the front door of her home for about a month.

The smell is so putrid that her five children were not able to play outside like they typically would do.

Her kids could not draw with sidewalk chalk or ride their scooters, while Kress had to clean up when raccoons and other animals ripped open the trash bags.

Debris from the bags would be scattered down the block.

“I had to pick it up and try to re-bag it. And when I went to go put the bag next to the bin, you could see maggots raining out of my bin,” Kress said.

“And after a while, your trash sort of liquefies. It was pretty horrible.”

Residents across Johnson County have said that there has been a lack of communication by the waste collection company Republic Services, which is meant to pick up their trash.

The company has been hit with $7,000 in fines from Prairie Villiage, which contracts with the company, for its failure to pick up trash and recycling in a timely manner.

However, City Clerk Adam Geffert told the outlet: “It doesn’t seem to make a difference, unfortunately.”

Read Related Also: I had the ‘world’s creepiest landlord’ who ‘made me sign a sex agreement in my lease’ – I took the fight to court

Geffert claims trash pickup routes have been missed more frequently in recent months.

The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment has received reports of health concerns over the accumulation of trash in some neighborhoods.

“Beyond being an inconvenience, it’s a health and safety issue,” Jameia Haines, president of the Oak Park Homes Association and a city council candidate, told the outlet.

“What we are looking for with Republic is accountability. We consider them a partner. We pay them for a service.”

Republic Services said in a statement to the outlet: “We acknowledge that these areas have experienced delays and are working with our customers to remedy the situation as quickly as we can.

“We are committed to serving our customers and to ensuring uninterrupted service moving forward.”

While the company did not explain why the trash pickup delays have occurred, they did partly place the blame on staffing shortages.

“Like many companies, we are experiencing staffing challenges locally,” the company said.

“We are leveraging all available resources to return to our normal schedule as quickly as possible, including running additional routes on Saturdays.”

The U.S. Sun approached Republic Services for comment on Tuesday.

“We are aware of the service constraints customers experienced several weeks ago.

“Since then, all customers have been serviced and are on schedule for normal collection services,” the company said a day after the Kansas City Star published its article.