Central Bedfordshire Council sorry for halting garden waste collections

Central Bedfordshire Council said it had not resumed collections due to a shortage of drivers

A council has apologised for not resuming garden waste collections due to "a national shortage of drivers".

Central Bedfordshire Council suspended the green bin collections in July because of staff shortages.

They were due to start again at the end of August but the authority said it was "prioritising" clinical waste, black bin and recycling collections.

Ian Dalgarno, executive member for community services, said the council was working to recruit more drivers.

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"We have increased the hourly pay rate and a number of other initiatives," he said.

"We are also training people internally to get more people driving for our contractor but there's a backlog of test dates available.

"The process is quite difficult and isn't very quick."

Waste management company Veolia recently announced a £1,500 bonus for HGV drivers joining its collection teams across the UK.

Mr Dalgarno said he could "understand" the concern expressed by residents

Mr Dalgarno said he could not "give a specific date" for when garden waste collections would resume.

"We are working to bring some sort of service back as quickly as we possibly can," he said.

"We appreciate it's not ideal and we're sorry for the disruption of the service."

Some residents have taken to paying private businesses to collect and discard of their garden waste.

Mr Dalgarno suggested residents could purchase discounted compost bins through the council to use while collections were suspended.

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