IT could take until next week for rubbish collections to get back to normal in the Suffolk Coastal area because of the local government workers' two-day strike.

Richard Cornwell

IT could take until next week for rubbish collections to get back to normal in the Suffolk Coastal area because of the local government workers' two-day strike.

Refuse teams have been playing catch-up after returning to work - trying to get two days collecting done each day.

Council officials said people who missed their collection on Wednesday because of the industrial action should put the black sacks and recycling bins out today along with all those households which normally have a Friday collection.

But because of the extra work, many families found bags still not collected late this afternoon.

A council spokesman said if households should have had a collection on Friday and it did not take place, they should put out the rubbish again on Monday July 21.

Households which should have had a collection on Thursday should put out their waste for collection from 7.30am on Saturday.

From Monday, if a collection is not made people should put out the rubbish again the following day.

Everything will be back to normal from Monday July 28.

Council cabinet member Andrew Nunn said the knock-on effect of the strike could last several days but Suffolk Coastal Services (SCS) had plans in place to catch up as quickly as possible.

“It is a shame that the negotiations between the national representatives of the union and the employers have failed to successfully prevent this strike, and I would apologise to all our residents for any inconvenience they may experience,” he said.

“However, I can promise that SCS will do everything it can to continue with its normal excellent service and get it back up to full strength as quickly as possible.”