West Berkshire's new food waste service sees complaints

The council said 80 tonnes of food waste had been collected in the first four weeks of the new service

A council has admitted "teething issues" with its new food waste collection service after complaints from residents.

West Berkshire Council introduced it for houses on 31 October and flats and more communal spaces on 28 November.

But many householders said their bins have not been collected on time.

The council claimed about 99% of collections had been carried out successfully on scheduled days but it was hoping to see "improvements".

Hundreds of people have so far raised issues about their bins being missed, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"As a major service change introduced on a district-wide basis, some teething issues are usually expected," a spokesperson for the council said.

They confirmed that an average of more than 80 tonnes of food waste has been collected over the first four weeks.

"We hope to see continuous improvements as more residents participate in the service and vehicle crews become familiar with their collection rounds," they added.