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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Laura Sharman

Council's U-turn after backlash over not collecting bins for a MONTH in heatwave

A council has made a rapid U-turn after announcing that residents would have their food and garden waste bins emptied for month despite the heatwave.

Waltham Forest Council in east London, told its residents the 'rubbish' news on Twitter that bin collections would be halted from August 15.

But it backtracked just 24 hours later after locals flocked to social media to raise their concerns of having food left to rot in the streets in 35C heat.

In a "brown bin collection update" on Twitter, the council said: "We have listened to the concerns of residents over the last 24 hours and decided that we will not be temporarily suspending brown wheelie bin food and garden waste collections."

Relieved homeowners thanked the council for listening to their woes while some quipped "it’s a pity there was such a lack of common sense used with the original decision."

The council announced the bin suspension on Twitter (WALTHAM FOREST COUNCIL)

The local authority originally justified its decision by explaining that the UK has had its driest July since 1885 with rainfall down by 35 per cent over the last six months.

"This means that grass and garden plants have been growing more slowly this summer than expected," it added.

"This has significantly reduced the amount of garden waste being left out by residents to be collected by the Council in recent weeks."

But residents hit back insisting that their "rotting" food would be left in the street while the UK grapples with another sizzling heatwave.

The labour-run council had announced the plan in a tweet on Wednesday, telling residents: "We are suspending brown wheelie bin food/garden waste collections from August 15 to September 11.

"We thank all residents for your patience and advise you to continue to dispose of any food/garden waste in brown bins ready for collection from September 12."

Residents are outraged by the temporary measures (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Meanwhile conservative deputy leader of Waltham Forest Afzal Akram said he and his fellow party members were "flabbergasted" when they heard about the suspension.

He told MailOnline: "It's one of those blue sky thinking moments that you think of something and straight away you should throw it in the bin.

"But for them to go and implement it is ridiculous. We are in a heatwave and they expect residents to leave food lying there for month - the stench, the stink is going to be unbelievable."

Emma Best, leader of Waltham Forest Conservatives who form a minority of the council, also called the decision "ridiculous".

The council further claimed that the temporary suspension will help it to focus on other services over the summer and reduce unnecessary journeys for its collection trucks, helping improve air quality and cut carbon emissions.

But disgruntled locals expressed their outrage on social media and raised concerns of going six weeks with "food waste rotting outside our window in a heatwave."

One person questioned "whyyy? Literally in a heatwave" while another said "if it's not going to be collected, it's going in the black bin."

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