Nearly 3,500 bins not collected after refuse rounds changed in parts of Suffolk

Nearly 3,500 bins were not collected in the three months since refuse days were switched by Mid Suffolk and Babergh district councils.

The mixture of general waste and recycling bins were missed by collectors after the pick-up days were changed - but the two councils still managed to pick up more than 99% of the 83,854 of their roadside collections they make a week, despite missing 3,440.

Statistics in a Freedom of Information request show that some areas of Suffolk were worse affected than others.

Mid Suffolk received 17 complaints about missed bins in Main Road, Henley spanning five weeks, with Cranley Road in Eye also suffering from the missed collections.

In Babergh, the council received 12 complaints regarding unemptied bins in Pond Hall Road, Hadleigh, spanning three weeks.

A spokeswoman for the councils said that the changes were needed to make collections as "efficient as possible".

She said: "In addition to the round changes to make our collection service as efficient as possible for continued housing growth, a further improvement to report missed bins per waste type was also introduced during the period of transition to improve performance monitoring.

"With 6,240 new properties across both districts, our old rounds were becoming unworkable with some residents experiencing a less efficient service.

"The new future-proofed routes accommodate these new, existing, as well as future homes, to make the rounds as efficient as possible."