MISSED bin collections in Cheshire East almost trebled last year.

A Freedom of Information request to the borough council by the Local Democracy Reporting Service showed that 21,340 collections were missed in 2019/20 compared to 7,182 the year before.

That year also saw the council's spend on collecting residential waste rise by £1 million to £11.3m - the year in which CEC reconfigured collections.

Cllr Laura Crane, CEC cabinet member for highways and waste, said: "We are pleased with the substantial transition that occurred in November 2019 when almost all routes across the borough were reconfigured.

"The reconfiguration of routes will deliver significant financial and environmental efficiencies as we seek to increase recycling and drive down distances travelled by our vehicles. These efficiencies will be reflected in our accounts going forward.

"As a result of the transition we were able to accommodate the introduction of food waste collections in the garden bin from January this year, which has resulted in recycling rates well above the national target.

"Residents have already received the benefits of the transition through having an expanded collection service and a more efficiently run collection fleet."

Since 2015/16, when spending collections was just £8.9m, the number of collections per missed bin has steadily fallen.

In 2015/16, 2,411 bins were successfully collected for every missed one — that decreased to 2,010 in the next year, and again to 1,691 in 2017/8.

A total of 1,845 bins were collected for every missed one in 2018/19, and reached a low-point in 2019/20 with just 663.