Neighbours who raised concerns about their area went ignored for months, the Observer can reveal.
More than 200 signatures were attached to petitions complaining about fly-tipping, all handed in to Harrow Council in September but are yet to receive a response.
Ross Barlow, a Liberal Democrat activist who presented a bulk of the petitions, said: “Tory councillors seem to be spending so much time playing power games at the council that they have no time to actually run it.
"Now when local people sign petitions asking for help with street lighting or with road and pavement quality they are ignored.
"We don’t know whether this is due to apathy from the Conservatives or partisan spite in refusing to reply to petitions submitted by their political opponents, but no matter what the reason, they are failing local residents.”
The petitions, which had a total of 223 signatures handed to the council last year, called for fly-tipping hotspots in Weighton Road, High Road, College Hill Road and Kenton Lane to be tackled with the installation of CCTV cameras.
Leader of Harrow Council Susan Hall (Conservative) said: "These residents should have been answered and I am furious that they were not.
"If people have concerns then they are fully entitled to a response. In this case we are in the wrong."
The council, which says on its website that it recognises 'petitions can be a good way to highlight issues that people feel strongly about', aims to respond within 15 days to confirm that a petition has been received – which in this case it did.
What it did not do however, was have an officer write to the petition organiser, undertake research or an inquiry, or organise a meeting with the petitioners or interested parties which the council says it intends to do following confirmation that it received a petition.
Ms Hall added: "People may not always get the answer they like, but it is vital that people know we are listening to their concerns, and for them to not receive a response for petitions going back all the way to September, it just is not good enough.
"There has clearly been a cock up in the system."
