DOZENS of West Fifers have said it’s “unacceptable” that some bins will not be emptied for up to two MONTHS after collections were cancelled due to severe weather last week.

Fife Council confirmed they will not be catching up on missed collections - around 220,000 bins were not serviced due to the snow and ice - and advised that bins will be picked up next time they are scheduled.

They apologised for the inconvenience and advised residents with excess waste to leave a “reasonable” amount next to the bin at the next collection or take it to the nearest recycling centre.

However, many are concerned that their rubbish is already overflowing and have questioned capacity at recycling centres with a booking system currently in place.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Press: “Fife Council decided to skip the normal bin-emptying cycle because of the adverse weather and start with the next sequence of bin-emptying.

“This means blue bins that are already full will not be emptied for another two weeks and it has already been two weeks since the last time the blue bins were emptied.

“While one does understand the current difficulties because of the weather and accepts that bin-emptying may have to be postponed for a few days, it is not acceptable to delay this essential service for four weeks.

“Blue bins are not big enough and, even with recycling, one does accumulate household waste needing to be emptied every two weeks.

“What are people expected to do with their bins already full and more waste accumulating over the next two weeks?

“I imagine there will be an awful lot of rubbish bags dumped all over the place.”

For those who missed blue (landfill) bin collections, it will be four weeks in total before they are emptied, while plastic and paper bins will be waiting a full two months by the time they’re picked up.

Readers finding out about the news on the Press website had a lot to say about the service.

Ally Macintyre commented: “If everyone now goes to the public recycling points, it will be like Christmas all over again with mountains building up. The dumps are pretty much non-accessible with a lengthy booking process and there needs to be access for vans and trailers too.”

Catriona Rutherford added: “Not everyone has a car, there are lots of us oldies about that have no access to the nearest recycling centre. They tell us that they will pick up a reasonable number of black sacks but I have three full ones already. What is a reasonable amount?”

Christiana Maxi B said: “I understand that it was difficult to collect the bins during the snow situation but, for some of us, with the blue bins full we can’t wait another four weeks and our recycle centre is far away if you can’t move your car. Wouldn’t it be better if they had an extra route for these bins?”

In a statement Fife Council said: “We’re planning to get back to a normal service next week and we’ll be focusing on scheduled collections.

“This means we won’t be able to catch up on missed collections, so if your bin hasn’t been emptied this week, please remove it from the kerbside. We’ll catch it next time it’s scheduled to be picked up. If you have reasonable excess waste by that time, please bag it if possible and leave it next to the bin.

“Don’t forget excess waste can be taken to your nearest recycling point/centre.

“Bulky collections that were missed over this period will now be uplifted on Sat 20 and Sun Feb 21.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.”