Bins emptied after collections missed 'for weeks'

Bins have been emptied in areas of Margate after residents expressed concerns over missed collections and waste piling up.

On Monday, Kieran Hunt, of Dane Road, Cliftonville West, told the BBC bin collections in Dane Road had been missed for up to five weeks.

Thanet District Council (TDC) introduced changes to waste collections in April, which included moving some households to fortnightly general waste and recycling collections.

A council spokeswoman said teams went to Dane Road earlier to collect general refuse and food waste following missed collections, and the collection scheduled for Wednesday would still go ahead.

Hunt told the BBC he was at work on Tuesday and had not put his bins out, so they were not collected in the catch-up visit, but he would be putting them out on Wednesday.

On the council website, the next scheduled general waste collection in Dane Road is listed for Wednesday, but all other recycling categories state "no collection".

Hunt, who had raised concerns about waste management in his own road as well as the town and main beach area, said he was hoping recycling would be collected the following week, on 20 May.

Another resident, Martha Rumney, said: "Up until recently we lived on North Down Road in a flat and all we had were some communal bins that the majority of the high street used.

"We wouldn't even know if the bins hadn't been collected because that's how awful it was all the time."

She said residents had no idea about collections because there was rubbish there "24/7".

Street cleaner Stephen Young urged people to separate their rubbish correctly, adding: "People aren't paying attention to recycling rules, which makes my life so much more difficult."

Councillor Steve Albon, cabinet member for coastal and cleansing services, said: "About 27,000 more Thanet households now have weekly food waste collections.

He said general waste and recycling was collected fortnightly, on alternate weeks.

This rule was introduced on 13 April in response to government requirements, he added.

The council previously said it had written to affected households and shared information online and on social media.

It encouraged residents to check the status of their collections and report any missed bins on the website. After that, a recollection will be booked.

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