Refuse crews rally to catch up on missed bin collections

Refuse crews are rallying to catch up on bins missed due to heavy snow in West Leeds – but it could be another few days before they’re collected.

Council workers still have about 110,000 bins across Leeds to collect that were missed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday due to the snow and icy conditions.

Posting on Facebook, the council said:

“Crews will be working an extra day today (Sunday) to do all they can to catch up and empty as many of those 110,000 as possible.

“If your street was missed on one of those days, please leave your bin out and we will try our best to get it emptied.

“If we don’t manage to get to you today we will keep trying until Wednesday. But if your bin hasn’t been emptied by then, please take it back in until your next scheduled collection day for that colour bin.

“Thank you to all our colleagues who are working hard today in the snowy conditions to empty bins, clear Household Waste Recycling Centre, grit the roads and supporting vaccination centres and testing sites.”

All Leeds City Council household waste and recycling centres (HWRC) have now reopened.

A council press spokesperson added:

“We advise anyone with a slot booked today at a HWRC only to make the journey if necessary, and to stay safe during your visit. We ask local residents to take care if travelling and to watch out for any vulnerable neighbours who may be affected by the current conditions.

“Staff are also supporting vaccination and testing sites and we are ensuring that primary routes continue to be gritted.”

Calverley & Farsley Conservative councillor Andrew Carter criticised the council’s gritting response in West Leeds following a briefing with council leader Judith Blake on Friday. He said:

“It is quite unacceptable for the Leader of Council or any of the senior officers to say that they can’t even keep primary routes gritted in the West of Leeds and at the same time move gritting resources on to secondary routes in the rest of the city. Once again the whole of West Leeds – including Pudsey and Calverley and Farsley – are being left without sufficient resources, it is a disgrace and wholly unacceptable.

“They are boasting that the areas around testing centres are being kept clear but if people going for vaccination can’t safely get there the situation is hopeless, they need to get their act together.”

As many as 30 gritters were out on Thursday alone while 11 snow plough tractors had helped keep roads clear, the council said.

Gritting of primary routes – around 800 miles of road – took place at 4.30am and 8am on Thursday, with pre-emptive grits at 4pm and 7.30pm on Wednesday. Regular gritting has continued since then. A spokesperson added:

“Despite the huge efforts made by the council’s gritting teams, the continuing snow and sub-zero road surface temperatures meant some disruption to journeys was sadly unavoidable.

“Additional gritting efforts have been focused on the areas around the city’s primary care network COVID-19 vaccination centres.”

Around 100 schools had closed completely due to the weather.