More bin misery due on day of strike action

Regular bin collections will be affected by public sector industrial action on Tuesday, October 14.

Lancaster City Council has announced it will have a “reduced capacity” that day and can’t guarantee bins and boxes will be emptied as normal.

Residents are being told to leave their bins and boxes out as usual and they will be collected if possible. If not, they will have to wait another two weeks for a collection.

Outraged residents blasted the council in July after they were unable to catch up on bin collections missed after a one-day strike.

Wheelie bins and recycling boxes were left unemptied for a month.

If the council is unable to collect on October 14, they will take extra bags of non-recyclable household waste on October 28, as well as extra green garden or food waste in biodegradable bags – which can be ordered on 01524 582491 or collected from Morecambe or Lancaster town halls. They will also do an October 28 catch-up on recycling box waste (plastic bottles and cardboard) if left out in carrier bags, although residents have been asked to keep all glass within its relevant recycling box.

A council spokesman said: “We apologise for the disruption caused by the strike action but to arrange an extra collection, as we do after bank holidays, would require extra resources which the council does not have.”

Household Waste and Recycling Centres at Keer Bridge in Carnforth and Salt Ayre will remain open.

Other public realm services such as street cleansing will also be affected. All three Customer Service Centres at Morecambe and Lancaster Town Halls and the Council Housing reception in Cable Street, Lancaster, will also be closed on October 14.

The strike is due to an ongoing pay dispute. Unions Unison, Unite and GMB, which between them represent more than a million local government workers, say workers have taken a 20% real-terms pay cut since 2010.