Bolton Council apologises as bins left unemptied in recent weeks

Town hall chiefs said this will help get the “teams get back on track with collections because we have had more people off sick than usual”.

Officers said that despite sending out extra crews on weekday evenings and on Saturdays to try to catch up, operational issues mean some bins are still waiting to be collected.

 Residents whose entire street has been missed this week should leave their bin out for collection over the weekend and up to the end of the day on Tuesday, September 8.

 Scheduled collections of burgundy bins on Monday, September 7 and Tuesday, September 8 will be cancelled.

(Image: Bolton Council)

 Anyone whose burgundy bin is due to be collected on those days will be able to put out extra bags of recycling on their next scheduled collection day for the burgundy bin only. 

 Additional recycling should be placed in an untied bag next to the burgundy bin.

 The idea is by delaying collections of burgundy bins, the bin waggons can prioritise collections of food waste and non-recyclable waste due to hygiene.

 Burgundy bins are for dry recycling like bottles and cans, but not paper.

 A spokesperson for Bolton Council said:  “We apologise once again for the inconvenience when bins are missed, we know how frustrating it can be.

 “We are doing all we can to get back on schedule and very much appreciate people’s patience.”

 The apology comes after weeks of disruption which has left bins uncollected on hundreds of streets across Bolton.

In a statement the council added: “We’re doing this to help our teams get back on track with collections because we have had more people off sick than usual.

“We’re delaying collections of burgundy bins so that we can prioritise collections of food waste and non-recyclable waste due to hygiene.”

Cllr Baggy Khan and Cllr Hanif Alii have complained about bin collections being missed in Halliwell (Image: Public)

The Bolton News previously revealed that as many as 20 bin wagon drivers had been signed off sick, including 10 on long-term sick leave and another 10 on general sick leave.

The council has now said it has had “more people off sick than usual” as it works to get collections back on schedule.

The disruption has been ongoing for several weeks, with council records previously showing 250 streets where collections appeared to have been missed on August 12 and 13.

There were then 158 entries attributed to operational issues between August 19 and 21.

The council has been deploying additional crews and working extended hours in an effort to recover missed collections.

Cllr Cllr Ismail Ibrahim, of Rumworth ward, told The Bolton News previously: “I have been inundated with enquiries from frustrated residents across Rumworth, where missed collections have affected hundreds of households.