Garden waste collection halted over staff shortage

Garden waste in Rotherham will not be collected by the council for the rest of the month

Garden waste collections in Rotherham have been suspended with immediate effect until the end of August, amid a staff shortage.

The decision, announced by Rotherham Council, means households will not receive their usual brown bin collection service for the rest of the month.

Garden waste collections in the town are paid for with a subscription service, with residents forking out an annual fee of more than £40 to sign up.

The council said it was prioritising general waste collections to ensure essential services continue.

In a statement, the authority said: "We understand this is frustrating and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

"Please be assured that we are actively recruiting new staff to bolster the service and making changes intended to make it more efficient and effective in the future."

Residents who have already placed their brown bins out for collection have been asked to return them from the kerbside, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Garden waste collections are expected to resume on Monday 1 September. The council said it would issue another update by Friday 29 August if further delays occur.

The authority said it was "considering the best way to make amends" to subscribers for the disruption and would share further information in due course.