BIN collections have been disrupted in Redditch after several staff members were pinged by the NHS track and trace app and asked to self-isolate.

Redditch Borough Council apologised to residents in a Facebook post after being unable to carry out garden waste collections as planned on Wednesday to Friday last week.

The council said the collections were due to resume on Monday (July 19), but some residents have said on Facebook they still haven't had their garden waste bins emptied this week. 

One annoyed resident said on Saturday that their bin was out on the kerb since Thursday, with grass cuttings "fermenting and turning to slime" which started to "stink."

A council spokesperson said: “In the last two weeks we have had a significant increase in the number of staff being notified to isolate through the NHS app. 7 of our staff were notified in early July, 3 additional staff notified the following week, and 1 so far this week.

"All were pinged as close contacts and none of them were ill or had coronavirus.

“It takes 45 staff each day to operate waste collection services across the district, both as HGV qualified drivers and skilled operatives to handle the physical challenges of the role. Thanks to the hard work of our bin crews, and the support of other staff from across the service, we were able to minimise disruption, but Covid continues to be a challenge and can have a significant impact very quickly as skilled staff can’t be replaced easily for short term disruption.

“The uncertainty of staff isolating has made it far more challenging to support staff with annual leave, normal sickness and ensure we have sufficient resources to deliver our core services.

“We’ll publicise any service disruption on our website and social media, so please check there first if your bin isn’t collected as expected.”