South Hams garden waste collection suspension extended

Residents have complained about the suspension of collections of their garden waste, which begain in August

Driver shortages have forced a council to extend its suspension of garden waste collection over the winter.

South Hams District Council in Devon said collections would not now restart until spring next year to "avoid further significant disruption" to its refuse and recycling service.

Residents have complained of "paying twice" for their garden recycling.

The council said the decision had been taken "reluctantly" after exploring a "wide range of options".

However, it said it was unable to resume the collections without significantly affecting the waste, recycling and clinical collections the council legally has to provide.

A lack of HGV drivers caused the initial suspension of garden waste collections to prevent disruption to other services

The suspension of services provided by contractor FCC Environment began in August because of a shortage caused by the national problems with HGV drivers, as well as staff sickness.

The company explained that currently 27% of its vacancies were unfilled, which continued to affect refuse and recycling collections.

The collection of garden waste was a non-statutory service, which meant it did not legally need to be provided, the council explained.

Councillor Keith Baldry, executive member for environment, said: "We haven't had a great set of options available to choose from and we have chosen the best of the group.

"I greatly regret we have to suspend the garden waste service, but the alternatives available would mean further disruption for our communities with impacts to their waste and recycling collections, which we're doing our very best to improve upon."