GARDEN waste bins will not be collected anywhere in Cheshire East until next Monday at the earliest because of staff shortages.

But black and grey bin collections, which were missed in some areas last week including Crewe, should have been collected by tomorrow (Wednesday), staffing levels permitting.

Ansa, the council's wholly-owned company responsible for waste collection, has taken to social media to apologise for missed collections in the week between Christmas and the New Year and to notify residents of the further postponement of garden waste collections, which includes leftover food, until January 10.

The company tweeted: "Our teams are working extremely hard to maintain our waste collection services.

"We have increasing pressure on our ability to complete some collection rounds and to return to collect bins that have been missed or that have not been collected as scheduled due to access issues.

"Recent increases in Covid-related staff sickness and self-isolation, in addition to the ongoing impact of the national shortage of HGV drivers and an increase in the amount of waste produced by households, has heavily affected our teams following the Christmas period.

"Until the situation eases, disruption may continue and we apologise for any inconvenience caused to residents."