Chelmsford City Council tackles bin backlog caused by staff absences

Workers are trying to clear a small backlog of bin collections caused by staff absences

A council is clearing a backlog of bin collections caused by staff shortages over the festive period.

In Chelmsford food waste collections were suspended for three days due to staff sickness.

Chelmsford City Council said 20 workers were currently off sick, meaning it was still working to clear "a small backlog" of food waste and recycling collections.

The backlog mostly affected blocks of flats, the council said.

Chelmsford City Council said services were getting back to normal after festive disruption

Rose Moore, cabinet member for Greener and Safer Chelmsford, said: "Unfortunately between Christmas and New Year we had so many absences that we weren't able to continue food waste collections for three days.

"We have a little backlog with flats collections, cardboard, the bulk of Christmas waste and plastic, but we know our crews are on track to catch up and we are keeping residents informed."

Services were "back to normal" otherwise, Ms Moore said.

The council also said garden waste would not be collected until 11 January to allow it to "focus our resources on recycling collections, which increase significantly around the holiday period."

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