Somerset waste: £1k bonus offered to recruit lorry drivers

Waste collections in Somerset have been affected by a shortage of drivers

A bonus payment of £1,000 is being offered to recruits to tackle a shortage of lorry drivers.

The Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP), which oversees waste collection in the county, is offering the one-off payment as an incentive.

Collections have been disrupted over the summer with staff having to self-isolate due to Covid-19 alerts.

SWP's managing director Mickey Green said loaders were also being retrained as drivers.

"There's a shortage of 100,000 drivers nationally and that is not going to disappear overnight, it's a really challenging labour market," he said.

"We've got a lot of people in but we need to do more, and this is another incentive."

The £1,000 bonus will be paid once drivers have completed a probationary period.

Garden waste suspended

Current staff, who Mr Green described as being "among the heroes of lockdown" were also being paid weekly performance bonuses.

"We think it [the bonuses] will help, but there's no silver bullet to this," said Mr Green.

Garden waste services have been suspended in Somerset but are due to return in September.

Mr Green said: "We're still in a difficult situation, harder than any of us have ever known.

"I think we're starting to get there, but I don't want to predict or promise something that doesn't come true.

"I want to reassure people that we are doing everything we can to get collections back on track."