The council has been criticised as neighbours have had to wait a month for their green garden waste bins to be collected in Reading.
People with gardens need a green bin to put garden waste in, which requires a £75 subscription, a £52.30 garden waste bin and bin bags that cost £15.50.
But neighbours have complained that Reading Borough Council’s team has not collected these bins for a month.
That is despite a schedule that states these bins should be collected every two weeks.
Complaining about the service, Michael Smith, who lives in Kidmore End Road, Emmer Green, said: “It is nearly a month now since our green bin has been emptied, despite the fact that the contract with the council is for a fortnightly collection.
“Every so often, a rescheduled date appears on the website, but the promise is always tomorrow…tomorrow…with no collection.
“We pay for this service, so expect it to be delivered or at least some compensation offered.
“Contacting the council on this matter by phone is extremely frustrating, given that after 30 minutes waiting you just have to give up.”
In a facetious quip, Mr Smith added: “What can you do, burn the rubbish, get someone to take it away and send the bill to the council?”
The lack of collections has also been noted by the @ReadingClowncil X/Twitter account.
The council’s garden service webpage states the service is temporarily suspended until Monday, March 2.
Apologising for the missed collections, a council spokesperson said: “High current levels of staff sickness and some ongoing technical issues with collection vehicles have been severely impacting the Green Waste Collection Service since early February.
“The council has therefore taken the decision to temporarily pause this service to enable crews to focus resources on the ongoing doorstep collection of residual waste, recycling and food waste.
“All of these collections are being prioritised and will continue as normal.
“The council is directly contacting all garden waste subscribers to inform them of the pause in service.
“Residents who have had garden waste collections missed in February are being asked to store their green waste on their property until their next scheduled collection after Monday, March 2, which is when rounds resume, or alternatively book a slot at the re3 centre in Island Road to dispose of their green waste.
“Residents will have their existing green bin or bag subscriptions automatically extended by four weeks as a result of the pause.
“We apologise to residents for the obvious inconvenience and would ask them to please bear with us while we recover staff, at which point we will be able to resume the full service.”
