Bath & North East Somerset Council is restarting fortnightly garden waste collections on Monday 27 April after the service was temporarily paused due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The council is resuming the service as a priority in light of recycling centres having to close and residents are being thanked for their patience since collections stopped, to prioritise recycling and black bin waste collections.

Residents will receive extra green waste collections before they are asked to renew, to make up for missed collections.

Councillor David Wood, cabinet member for Climate Emergency and Neighbourhood Services, said: "I'm pleased to announce that we are able to restart the collections on Monday. I know this has been an inconvenience so thank you for your patience while we've been working hard to return services to normal.

"Residents have been very understanding about the suspension but have been curious about why it was needed. The health of our crews is my top priority. Social distancing in truck cabs has meant garden waste trucks have been needed for collecting black wheelie bins. We've put smaller crews in more vehicles to keep them safe. Council staff have been working hard to bring in extra trucks and extra staff to restart garden waste collection services. I'm proud of their hard work and determination to restart this service.

"I am keen to ensure residents aren't out of pocket for the pause in the service so the annual subscription period for garden waste bins has been extended. Existing garden waste stickers will now be valid until 18 July 2020 to make up for the missed collections.

"Please bear with us as we may continue to experience some disruption as the need for staff to isolate continues."

People are asked not to overload their garden waste bin to ensure the recycling team can run the service safely and efficiently.

Residents are also asked to check the website for any updates if their bin is not collected and to ensure their bin is out by 7am on their normal garden waste collection day. Soil should not be placed in garden waste bins.

All updates on council services can be found at www.bathnes.gov.uk/coronavirus