'Bins to be collected every other week' amid Coventry strike

Workers are calling for improved wages

A scheme to ensure bins are emptied every other week has been announced amid continued strike action by refuse workers.

Bin lorry drivers in Coventry are calling for improved wages with union Unite calling the rates "poverty pay".

The council disputes the claims and says drivers are paid on average £34,143.

Earlier this week the union announced further dates for industrial action which could stretch into March.

The city council has announced a scheme to ensure green-lidded bins, the normal household waste bins, are emptied every other week.

There will be no collections this week and bins will start being emptied from Monday, it said.

Those whose collection usually falls on a Wednesday will have it temporarily moved to a Tuesday, and those who usually have collections on Friday will see it temporarily moved to Thursday, it added.

Residents who have waited the longest for a household waste collection will be prioritised.

Almost 60,000 vehicles have visited temporary waste drop sites in the city

Unite said it had become an "increasingly bitter" dispute and its members deserved more than the starting salary of £22,183.

The council disputed the figure and said drivers were paid on average £34,143, with pay ranging from £28,148 to £52,163.

But Unite said those figures involved overtime of up to 50 hours a week and accused the local authority of "increasingly intemperate and widely inaccurate public statements".

Recycling and garden waste will not be collected until the strike has finished.

Four temporary waste collection points have been set up around the city, operating seven days a week, to help people get rid of their rubbish.

They have been visited by almost 60,000 vehicles dropping off over 200,000 black bin bags so far, the council said.

More drop sites are being planned in an attempt to facilities are spread fairly across the city.