Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) is asking residents across the county to put their recycling and rubbish out by 6am at the latest from now until further notice.

The move will allow crews to start early if needed, making life a little easier when the weather gets hot this summer or other pressures make getting a flying start helpful.

Recycling, rubbish and garden waste should all be put out the night before collection days, or by 6am at the latest on the day itself.

Having scope for early starts gives SWP and its collections contractor SUEZ more options when planning how to keep on top of collections and deal with any special circumstances.

The national driver shortage and Covid-related heavier loads have seen crews working long hours and occasional weekends for much of this year. Recent weeks have delays to collections in some areas and SWP apologises for this.

Lots of work is being done to address the shortage, but SWP has warned that there is no quick fix and some disruption of services is likely for some time.

Any qualified Large Goods vehicle (LGV) drivers are urged to consider vacancies available at locations across the county. There are also loader roles to be filled and details for all vacancies can be found at www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/job2021

The well documented national LGV driver shortage has been worsened by Covid-19 which has delayed training and testing.

EU drivers leaving the UK has added to the pressures, as has the driver demand created by recent reopening of non-essential retail.

The recruitment of drivers and collection crews is especially difficult in Somerset because it is home to many distribution centres.

Please check SWP’s website for updates at www.somersetwaste.gov.uk