Dumfries and Galloway Council has caused a stink by cancelling bank holiday bin collections at short notice.
The local authority caused anger on Wednesday evening when it announced that those collections due to take place today and on Monday had been axed.
No alternative arrangements have been made and thousands of the kerbside collections will now take place between two and four weeks later.
The decision, revealed on the council’s website, sparked angry comments from councillors and hundreds of householders.
One resident, Karen Bell, said: “This is unacceptable for the grey bin, mine is already full.
“Very poor service. This will cause fly-tipping. Scandalous.”
Another, Tamara Creighton, fumed: “This is absolutely disgusting. I’m all for folk getting their holiday entitlement but the collections should have been arranged for a sooner date. Bet you won’t be as keen when you get calls about rats.”
Labour Councillor Linda Dorward revealed that elected members were only informed of the situation at 4.30pm on Wednesday, shortly before the announcement.
She said: “If after only four weeks, this Tory administration can’t even get the basics right and ensure our bins are collected on time, I fear the worst. The Labour group calls on the leader of the council to urgently address and resolve this issue or at the very least put contingencies in place.
“Public holidays are not exactly new. Our residents deserve better”.
Council leader Gail Macgregor has requested “an urgent meeting with trade unions” on the matter.
She tweeted: “Deeply disappointing and not, I understand, replicated in other local authorities.
“I sincerely hope this is not politically motivated and a practical solution can be found.”
The announcement means that some people will need to wait a month for their blue (paper and cardboard) or red (plastic and cartons) bins to be collected.
General household waste in some locations will sit for another two weeks before being picked up but food waste bins will be collected as normal the following week.
The council statement, posted on its website, said: “We appreciate that informing you of these changes at this stage, so close to your collection day, is late in the day.
“Please be assured all avenues have been explored in relation to the collections before releasing this information today.
“If you are due to present your general non-recycling grey waste bin on Friday 7 or Monday, April 10, your next scheduled uplift will be Friday 21 or Monday, April 24 respectively.
“We are unable to collect additional side waste on these dates. If you are due to present your red or blue lidded recycling bins on Friday, April 7, your next scheduled uplift will be Friday, May 5.
“If you are due to present your red or blue lidded recycling bins on Monday, April 10, your next scheduled uplift will be Monday, May 8 – although this may be subject to change as Monday, May 8 is a bank holiday.
