Refuse collectors beat the snow in West Somerset

REFUSE and recycling services in West Somerset were running almost as normal this week, despite the heavy snowfalls.
Somerset Waste Partnership said it was fortunate that collections in the more rural areas, such as on the Quantock Hills and on Exmoor, were not scheduled until later in the week.
Dustbin lorries had instead been able to concentrate on the urban areas, where it was easier to cope with the weather conditions.
However, the household waste recycling centres in Minehead and Dulverton were both closed yesterday as staff had difficulty in travelling to work.
The partnership’s strategy and communications leader David Mansell said yesterday: “There has been a little bit of disruption, mostly in the rural areas.
“We are going to try and catch up as quickly as we can, which could include working over the weekend, but that obviously depends on how the weather turns out.”
Elesewhere in Somerset, there was widespread disruption as refuse and recycling lorries were taken off the roads, particularly in rural areas, because of the danger of accidents.
In West Somersetr, the waste partnership’s collection fleet was fully back on the road again this morning and was focussed on today’s scheduled rounds before looking to tackle the backlog later.
Extra vehicles, such as green waste lorries, had already started on the task of clearing the backlog.
The partnership was advising residents to leave out their refuse containers and it would try to clear them as soon as possible.
The Minehead and Dulverton household waste recycling centres had also reopened today.
However, the partnership warned some garden waste might not be collected this week as the vehicles had been deployed to help catch up on missed refuse collections.
Garden waste would be collected as normal in the next cycle.
Anybody who experiences serious problems because of the deferred garden waste collections should contact West Somerset Council by calling 01643 703704.