THURROCK Council's environment portfolio holder has thanked residents for 'bearing with us' as the authority 'resets' its waste bin collection programme

Cllr Andrew Jefferies spoke up after the first week of changes which the council say will allow it to 'refresh' household waste collection services.

Cllr Jefferies said: "I would like to thank residents for bearing with us as we have brought in some changes to enable the waste service to refresh and get collections back on track.

"Thanks to the changes all bins due for collection have been collected this week apart from brown bin food and garden waste in just three roads in West Thurrock and green or grey general waste bins in six roads in Grays and West Thurrock. Crews were unable to access these roads because they were blocked by parked vehicles. They will come and reattempt collection again on Monday to try and get these bins emptied.

"The decision to suspend blue recycling bin collections this week and brown bin food and garden waste collections from next week was not taken lightly but it does appear to be having the desired effect in helping to refresh services and allowing us the opportunity to catch-up on food and garden waste this week.

"We will continue to provide updates on progress through the council's website and social media as the refresh progresses."

There will be some changes over the coming weeks.

From Monday, 3 October brown bin food and garden waste collections will be temporarily stopped for all households. Food and other waste that could make a bad smell can be put in with general refuse in the green/grey bin

Two additional clear bags of recycling side waste will be collected between Monday 3 October and Friday 7 October