BULKY waste collections, street cleaning and gum removal have all been suspended across Evesham and Pershore as council chiefs revealed the impact of the shortage of HGV drivers
Difficulties recruiting drivers and shortages in the labour market generally caused by national and international pressures, is having an impact on Wychavon’s contractor FCC Environment.
While rubbish and recycling collections continue with little disruption, numerous services have had to be sacrificed temporarily because of the impact of the shortage.
Mechanical road and pavement sweeping is being prioritised for emergencies only, such as dealing with broken glass and blood.
Litter picking is continuing but picking of verges by roads is limited and only when resources are available. Weed spraying is being carried out in town centres only and removal will take place as soon as possible.
Deliveries of 240 litre green household recycling bins are currently delayed.
Collection of household rubbish and recycling, garden waste, business waste and recycling continue as normal. Litter, dog poo and on-street recycling bins continue to be emptied.
Coun Emma Stokes, executive board member for the Environment apologised for the disruption due to factors outside of Wychavon and FCC’s control.
“We are having to make difficult choices at the moment and our priority is to protect the rubbish and recycling collections we all rely on,” she said.
“We don’t know how long that will take though but our expectation is improvements will start to be seen by the end of September.
Steve Longdon, FCC’s operations director, said: “LGV 1 and 2 drivers are essential for the waste and recycling sector, and we are committed to doing everything we can to fill our driver vacancies to continue to play our part in protecting public health and the environment, as well as the UK’s green economic recovery and this firmly remains our focus.”
Qualified individuals looking for a new career are asked to e-mail [email protected].
