A delay in rubbish collections in London has been caused by staff shortages with binmen going on holiday.
A lack of drivers has left Ealing Council considering paying its remaining workers more to fill the gap.
The council said that while some staff were on sick leave, it expected disruption to continue until holidays finished in September.
On Sunday, the Government warned that taxpayers rely on regular waste collections and said the vital service must continue, The Telegraph reported.
Meanwhile, council tax has risen for Ealing residents, with the average band D homes now paying £93 extra per month, from £1,948 to £2,041. Occupiers in band H properties are now paying more than £4,000 in council tax.
The Labour-led council said the services were being deployed later than usual, adding that any bins not collected on schedule would be prioritised the following day.
A council spokesman told the Chiswick Calendar: ‘We are sorry about the delays that are occurring to bin collections due to driver shortage and the impact it is having on residents.
‘This is because a number of staff are currently off sick and, in addition, as it is the summer holiday period many staff are on leave, which we anticipate lasting until September when the holidays have finished.’
Since you’ve bin gone: Rubbish trucks have become an unfamiliar sight in Ealing due to staff shortages (file image)
Rubbish still piled up on the streets of Birmingham following a gruelling seven months of bin strikes
‘To address this issue we are actively recruiting more staff.
‘We also employ a number of HGV drivers, which are highly sought after across various industries, including supermarket deliveries, and consequently they are likely to be attracted by companies that are able to offer higher salaries.’
The council said it was reviewing salaries and other incentives for staff.
Susan Hall, Conservative leader in the London Assembly, said the lack of collection was ‘outrageous’.
‘When you’re paid to do a job, damn well do it and the people in charge of them, they need to be talked to as well,’ she told the newspaper.
‘When you’re running a company or a business, you have to make sure you’ve got a certain amount of staff in order to deliver the service you’re providing.
‘Just because these people work for a council, they assume they can do what they like. It’s not good enough.’
In Birmingham, mounds of rubbish is still piling up, seven months after strikes began in the city.
Lengthy negotiations are taking place between the Unite union and city council – but there still appears to be no end in sight.
Susan Hall, Conservative leader in the London Assembly, said the lack of collection was ‘outrageous’
A stray cat can been seen rummaging through the litter which has piled up on the streets of Birmingham
Despite half a year of negotiations between the Unite union and Birmingham City Council there still appears to be no end in sight
Some locals have complained of feeling ‘forgotten about’ amid the foul smells and infestations of giant rats dubbed ‘Squeaky Blinders’.
In June Birmingham bin workers voted to continue industrial action – meaning the strikes could go on until December.
The council has paid £8 million to keep a skeleton service run by agency staff in place while strikes continue.
The council – which effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2023 – has been blamed for also mishandling an equal pay dispute.
The walkout began in January over pay cuts of up to £8,000 impacting around 400 workers who are either former waste recycling collection officers or bin lorry drivers.
It has so far paid out almost £1.1 billion after losing a landmark case in 2012 launched after it gave bonuses to refuse collectors and street cleaners but not to cleaners and caterers – roles typically held by women.
It still has to find more money to settle further claims but insists its debt is ‘unrelated to the need to modernise the waste service and to eliminate any future equal pay risk’.
