compost heap out of control

I am helping someone in their garden who has had an accident, her compost heap is just a pile of weeds and garden junk piled high in the back of the garden. any suggestions on how to get it under control or do i have to build a new heap properly and transfer all the good stuff and ditch the rubbish. any ideas please

Depends on the weeds. Annual weeds are fine but the compost heap would need to reach a high temperature to kill off perennial weeds and that just isn't practical for the average gardener.

Personally, I would skip the lot to save spreading weeds and seeds across the entire garden, but that's just me. If you want/need to sort through the pile, I would suggest sieving the lot at least.

In a small garden a compost heap takes up a lot of space-I would be inclined at this stage to dispose of any woody material or anything that is going to take ages to rot down.

Then invest in a compost bin-a lot of councils offer cheap deals in conjunction with commercial outlets and transfer any vegetative stuff into that- avoiding any perennial roots- like dandelions etc

Keeps it all tidy and in one spot