THANKS - and a warning – have been delivered by Thurrock Council's newly appointed cabinet member for environment at the end of another week when the borough's bin dispute has dominated headlines and divided communities.

A strike by members of the Unite union, which started last month, moved up a gear this week as workers withdrew all their labour, meaning fewer bins across the borough were emptied and prompting piles of rubbish to mount up at 'drop-off zones'.

In a bid to negate the problem, the council set up a number of places across the borough where people can take their rubbish to drop off – but this led to a number of huge piles of sacks being dumped at some sites, creating a health hazard.

It was the intention of the council that these sites only be used between certain hours but residents flocked to them in numbers, eventually forcing the council to bring in security teams to make sure inappropriate mass dumping did not occur.

Debate about the effectiveness of the sites, the council's policy and the frustrations of residents has spilled over into many social media debates across the borough's many community digital platforms. Local councillors have been dragged into the debate and some have been participants in rather distasteful comments and insult-hurling.

However, at the end of the fractious week new portfolio holder Andrew Jefferies has spoken up to thank residents, saying: "We know that this unnecessary strike action by Unite union members is extremely disruptive for our residents and they are understandably frustrated.

"While the council has and is doing everything it can to resolve the matter, the only people that can bring this strike action to an end are Unite. We are doing all we can to mitigate the impact of the strike with temporary drop-off points.

"I want to say thank you to all our residents who are using these 'bring sites' correctly to dispose of bagged household waste, I know it is inconvenient to have to travel to dispose of your waste.

"I would please ask residents to use the sites responsibly, they must not be used to illegally fly-tip items outside of the opening hours. Enforcement staff will be on site to ensure the drop-off points are used properly."

Yesterday (Thursday, 13 May) Unite announced the strike would be extended until mid June at the earliest, with its members striking up to and including Friday,18 June.

There has been some confusion across the borough as residents have been reporting bin wagons out and about collecting waste.

The council has explained, saying: "Waste crews are still collecting waste from communal bin stores in flats, and from residents who receive assisted collections, including our sheltered housing complexes, because they cannot physically put their bins out or get to the drop-off points. Trade waste collections are also continuing."

The administration of the assisted bin schemes has caused some controversy though, with one informed insider telling Nub News: "There have been a number of instances where the old and vulnerable people who used to live at houses have either died or moved on but the house is still recorded as 'assisted'. The information is not great and it's all adding to the confusion and the anger on the streets as people see the bins of fit, healthy people being emptied as crews work off an out of date sheet!"