A national shortage of drivers and a sharp rise in the number of recycling and waste staff in self-isolation is affecting garden waste collections in Bath and North East Somerset.

Collections in several areas have been missed this week and will be suspended completely tomorrow (July 23) to ensure the Environmental Services team can prioritise the black bin and kerbside recycling routes.

The council is doing everything possible to reduce disruption to collections but has ten members of staff either off sick or self-isolating after testing positive for the virus or being in close contact with someone who has.

Councillor David Wood, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: "Unfortunately, like many other authorities we have had to temporarily suspend some garden waste collections. Our teams are working incredibly hard to keep these services running, despite a national shortage of drivers and a rise in the number of staff having to self-isolate.

"This one-day suspension will help to reduce the disruption to the main services and allow us to get back on track more quickly. In the meantime, thank you for your patience and understanding in difficult circumstances."

Residents whose scheduled collection day was Tuesday should have their garden waste collected by Friday.

Those whose collection day was either Wednesday or Thursday are being asked to leave their garden waste out for collection until the end of Saturday 24 July. Any uncollected waste after that should be put out again on the next scheduled collection date.

Garden Waste collections tomorrow (Friday 23 July) have been suspended. Residents are being asked to retain their garden waste until their next scheduled collection

Once the situation is more stable, the council will contact all residents affected by missed garden waste collections to arrange extensions to their subscriptions.