Council launches fortnightly bin collections

The changes will affect bins used for general rubbish

Changes to bin collections will bring a council in line with others across the country, a spokesman has said.

Middlesbrough Council said it will begin fortnightly refuse collections from August.

The move is the latest in a string of changes to bin collections introduced by the council recently.

Last month, it had to spend an additional £376,000 on 12,000 bins to ensure that the roll out of its new garden waste scheme could progress, after significantly underestimating demand.

Households of three or more now have the opportunity to apply for a free larger black bin to replace existing 140-litre ones ahead of the fortnightly collections.

Smaller households have the option of paying for the extra bin, if needed.

The council said it will take weeks to remove old bins and deliver the new ones, with the process starting on 11 June.

A spokesman said all who request new bins before 21 June will receive them on time.

Collection confusion

Delays to collections, disruption to deliveries, broken bin wagons and the impact of "confusing" communication have previously hampered the council's attempts to smoothly implement changes to its refuse collection.

In May, changes to its garden waste scheme, to a subscription-only model, were hindered by a significant shortfall in bins.

The council had to approve the purchase of thousands more bins to ensure the scheme could be rolled out after more than 19,000 people signed up to it - more than twice the 9,000 estimated.

A spokesman then said demand for the subscription scheme "vastly surpassed expectations", adding that the council was delivering hundreds of bins a day and removing old ones at the same time.

Residents were also left confused when they received emailed instructions telling them when to put out their old bins for collection - only to be later told that the date given was an example due to be used on a leaflet.

The spokesman said the issues were being "quickly rectified".

During the same month, there were delays to rubbish collections due to eight bin wagons being off the road due to various faults.