Kier explains why Oswestry's litter bins were not emptied

Kier, which is contracted to collect the rubbish for Shropshire Street Scene, took on the contract directly on April 1.

However, since then, residents have been reporting issues with the bins.

Earlier this month, the situation was described by local councillors as “just not acceptable on any level” after reports of “overflowing” dog waste bins and litter bins.

It was hoped that the situation would be resolved after the Easter holidays; however, up until this week, residents were still reporting overflowing dog waste bins in parts of Oswestry.

Earlier this week, Oswestry Liberal Democrats, who are the majority party on Oswestry Town Council, confirmed: "Kier’s general manager has brought in more staff to empty bins, and the Shropshire officer responsible tells the portfolio holder that he has demanded regular updates."

They added that Shropshire Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways and Environment, Cllr David Vasmer was meeting with officers on Thursday (April 23) “to get an update and review what went wrong”.

In response to an enquiry by the Advertizer, Kier confirmed that the lack of collections had been caused by a variety of issues.

A Kier spokesperson said: “From 1 April, Shropshire street scene services transitioned from an external provider to Kier, with a number of new colleagues joining under TUPE.

“At the same time, Kier optimised all litter bin collection routes and introduced a new digital system to improve long-term efficiency.

“Together, these changes led to a small number of missed collections during the transition period, but Kier and the new team are working hard to restore services to normal levels following this brief disruption.”