Sutton residents are furious as around 1,500 queue to collect new recycling bins.

The chaos is centred around the B&Q carpark where bins are being handed out from a lorry on Sutton Court Road.

One B&Q employee Amy said it was "carnage" and it was affecting the store "very badly".

Another employee Julie said: "The queue is absolutely tremendous.

"There are about 150 cars parked in our carpark so our customers can’t get in.

"Our staff can’t get in to park.

"They have run out of stock so they’ve had to go to Croydon to get more bins."

Julie said the queue was huge when she arrived at work at 10am this morning and has since got a lot bigger.

She added: "It’s a bit stressful to say the least.

"The customers are getting angry and we are bearing the brunt of it."

Councillor Tony Shields, who was at the scene, said the whole thing was a "cockup".

Describing the queues he said: "It’s absolute and utter chaos.

"It’s a classic example of abject incompetence and underestimation of the job in hand.

"If you set out to fail, you fail."

Cllr Shields said he was one of three councillors who went down to speak to people along with MP Paul Scully and leader of the opposition Tim Crowley.

He added: "The whole thing is a half-baked idea, it is rank incompetence.

"We have paid for the lorries to deliver the bins to properties anyway.  

"There were literally 1,500 people queuing- I can’t see how we could have done it worse.

"What a cockup."

Convervative MP Paul Scully said: "I spent two and half hours speaking to frustrated residents stuck in an entirely preventable shambles.

"Some people had been queuing for hours with little information so I did what I could to run between the council, Veolia and B&Q for much needed updates.

"I'd urge the council to look again and act on the obvious shortcomings of this project and for residents to keep an eye on the council website for news."

Deputy leader of the opposition Neil Garrett said: "The key point is that the three other councils in this same waste contract- Croydon, Kingston, Merton- are not implementing yet.

"Sutton has rushed ahead wanting to be first, but they obviously weren't ready. So residents have this chaos."

People have taken to Twitter to voice their frustration.





This comes just after a controversial refuse and recycling collection scheme was rolled out in the borough.

Sutton Council ended the weekly service and handed responsibility for collections to waste management company Veolia on Saturday, April 1, in a bid to cut £10.3 million from the public purse.

Residents will have to deal with five bins of varying sizes to be collected weekly or fortnightly. Bags left next to or on top of the bins will not be taken.

Veolia, which introduced the scheme in Kingston and Croydon in 2015, said the collections will give Sutton a “more recycling-led service”.

Sutton Council has been approached for comment. 

Are you at the scene? Let us know: grainne.cuffe@london.newsquest.co.uk