Missed bin collections 'blighting' communities

The council says it is working on improving the situation

Missed bin collections following a shake-up of a refuse service in June 2024 are "blighting" communities, a residents has claimed.

Valerie Dyson, from Middle Duntisbourne, in Gloucestershire, said "one in three collections are missed".

Cotswold District Council apologised to residents and said the situation in some areas had improved for most of those initially impacted.

The council said it had been affected by vehicle break downs, insufficient crews and an over-reliance on agency staff.

However, food waste collections in and around the village of Birdlip were missed as recently as last Friday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Earlier in September, some residents took the opportunity to raise the issue at a council meeting.

Middle Duntisbourne resident Valerie Dyson said: "Since the refuse collection was reorganised in June 2024, our black bin collection has been appalling.

"On average, one in three collections are missed and since our collection day is Friday, black bins are left by the kerbside over the weekend, blighting our lovely hamlet," she added.

"We are doing a lot, I hope that very soon you will actually see a change," said Andrea Pellegram, Environment and Regulatory Services cabinet member at the authority.

Pellegram said there was already a problem when she inherited the portfolio.

She said there was a new team working on improving bin collections and that some of the Friday collections would be moved to Wednesdays.

She added the cabinet had also recently decided to spend on new vehicles.