Missed bin collections cause 170 complaints in a week (From Sutton Guardian)

Rubbish left to pile up after Sutton Council misses bin collections

8:00am Tuesday 8th January 2013 in News By Mike Pyle

Missed bin collections prompted 170 complaints to the council in a week over the New Year.

Sutton Council says its refuse collectors worked hard over the festive period but admitted there were occasions where collections were missed meaning some people's rubbish was left to mount up for more than two weeks.

A council spokesman could not be precise about how many collections were missed and which areas were worst-hit between Thursday, December 27, and Wednesday, January 2, but said all collections should now be up-to-date.

A Sutton resident said: "Bins in numerous blocks within Sutton have not been cleared for two weeks bins are overflowing - foxes ripping bags apart that have been left out by residents.

"After numerous complaints to the council they still remain unemptied."

A revised schedule was put into place over the Christmas period but changes were only supposed to affect people whose collections were due on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. The most anyone's collections were supposed to have been delayed by was two days according to information circulated in December.

Councillor Colin Hall, deputy council leader, said: "As usual over the Christmas period we have had to make changes to a number of residents bin collection dates.

"Our waste collection staff worked extremely hard over the weeks around Christmas and New Year to ensure that disruption was kept to a minimum.

"There will always be occasions where bins are missed - and we’re sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused - but these are closely monitored and constitute a tiny amount when compared with the number of collections made from over 80,000 properties each week."

Have you been affected by the missed bin collections? If so, contact reporter Mike Pyle on 0208 722 6359 or email mike.pyle@london.newsquest.co.uk.

The council will be collecting real Christmas trees left out for recycling from today until Saturday.