THE council is reviewing its waste collection service after an overspend on agency staff led to uncollected bins piling up outside Redditch houses.

Disruptions have also been blamed on "an incredible series of unforeseen issues" following staff holiday and unexpected sickness.

Residents have been up in arms at the lack of service, but the council said today (Tuesday, August 4) that collections should be back to normal by next week.

But residents whose bins are collected tomorrow will have to wait another week for the service, and have been advised to put out double the amount next week. 

Elsewhere green bin collections will run as normal on Thursday and Friday, Tuesday bins must be put out on Wednesday, while next week’s grey bin collections should run as normal.

Cllr Brandon Clayton, whose portfolio covers environmental services, said: “After an incredible series of unforeseen issues last week, from staff sickness to vehicle breakdowns, our teams have worked very hard to catch up so that now we are only a day behind where we should be.

“Unfortunately with grey bin collections hanging over from last week, we have had to prioritise collecting these over collecting all of the recycling rounds.

"Whilst we are sorry that this will affect our residents whose bins are normally collected on a Wednesday, we have agreed that the teams will collect any extra recycling left out on their next recycling collection day.

“We’re very sorry if you have been affected by the issues in any way but if all goes to plan we should be back on track for next week’s collections.

“We can then move forward, assess the situation and put in place long-term plans to ensure that the service is stable for the future, reducing the risk of a repeat occurrence.”

Visit redditchbc.gov.uk/my-place/bins-and-recycling.aspx for more information.