GARDEN waste collections in Thurrock have been suspended with immediate effect.

Thurrock Council which has denied or declined to comment on a series of allegations that its workforce is being badly disrupted by Covid-19, made the announcement this evening (Wednesday, 6 January).

Brown bins are currently only being emptied on a fortnightly basis and confirming that garden waste collections in the borough are temporarily suspended from Thursday, 7 January Cabinet Member for Environment Cllr Aaron Watkins said: "We appreciate how important our waste collection service is to our residents and understand that this brown bin suspension may well be inconvenient for some.

"The new government guidance, including the new requirement for those who are clinically extremely vulnerable to once more shield, as well as the continued need for contacts of positive cases to self-isolate is having an impact.

"A few key members of staff, who are playing their part to fight the virus by following the advice to stay at home under the new requirements, can have a significant impact on services.

"We are doing everything we can to resolve the operational challenges and extra pressures this presents, but for now we have taken the decision to temporarily halt garden waste collection in order to continue to be able to concentrate on providing the weekly refuse and recycling collections and we would ask residents either compost their food waste or place it into their normal waste bin.

"We are doing everything we can to support our staff to stay safe and ensure they are adhering to government guidance.

"Given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pressures the waste service are facing are constantly changing and this temporary change will be kept under review. We thank residents for your support and our crews for their dedication and hard work."

Major changes to the way bin collections are managed in Thurrock will be coming into force later in 2021. Last year the council controversially changed its bin collection strategy and is to switch to fortnightly collections for general waste and introduce a new food waste collection service. An earlier version of this story say recyclable waste was going fortnightly, this is incorrect. Apologies for the error.

The council is now advising residents to put their kitchen waste in the green or gray general waste bins. It says blue and green/grey bin collections will continue weekly.

The council adds: "Home composting is the best option for any garden waste during this period.

"Please store your brown bins away from the street until notice is given about brown bin collections resuming."