A THURROCK resident has been awarded a £300 compensation payment from Thurrock Council after the Local Government Ombudsman adjudged the authority had failed in its duty to collect his waste.

And the council has been ordered to ensure its refuse crews receive better training, and use the service's in-cab system.

In a ruling dated 20 November but handed down this week, the ombudsman also ordered Thurrock Council to monito the collections at the home of the resident, named only as Mr X, over an eight-week period.

The ombudsman explained that Mr X reported 14 missed collections to the Council between May 2022 and July 2023.The Council could not confirm what the reasons for the missed collections were as the crew did not routinely use the 'in-cab' unit to record issues, it added.

In mitighation Thurrock Council said its system did flag up potential issues along Mr X's street as a large number of missed collections were raised on line.

The council also explained that Mr X's street is narrow and the waste vehicle could not fit safely. Therefore, the collection was from the alleyway behind Mr X's property (and other properties on his street).

The council said this road was unadopted and unmade with potholes and overhanging trees. It said for this reason, the waste vehicle struggled to turn down the road and collections were missed.

The council agreed to apologise to the resident for the inconvenience, pay him £300 and monitor his waste collections for an eight week period.

The ombudsman added that the council should be able, within eight weeks, to prove that refuse crews (borough-wide) are using the in-cab system regularly and provide training for them if necessary.