STAFF shortages and vehicle issues led to around 4,000 homes in West Fife not having their green bins collected last week.

Householders have now been advised to bring their bins in and face a four-week wait until their recycling waste is picked up.

Halbeath resident Mark Sherry contacted the Press to express his dissatisfaction after he was told he could take his bin contents to a recycling centre if unhappy to wait.

“They said there would be someone out to empty them on the Saturday. When I called again on Monday, they said they couldn’t get round everyone. Halbeath seems to get deprived all the time by the council,” he said.

“They said just take them back in but they are full to the brim. It was bad over the weekend. The place was flooded with empty milk cartons and tins.

“I said that isn’t good enough and they said take it to the recycling centre but fuel is not the cheapest thing to put in a motor.

"Why should we have to be going to Cowdenbeath or Wellwood? They are wanting people to recycle stuff.

"What most people will do is just go and put it in the other bucket.”

Liberal Democrat councillors James Calder and Aude Boubaker-Calder raised their concerns at the delays which they said had particularly hit Abbeyview, Halbeath and Duloch.

They called for the situation to be dealt with as a “priority” and said contingency measures should be in place.

Cllr Boubaker-Calder said: “Dunfermline residents are, once again, rightly furious about these disruptions in bin collections.

"Whether it is staff shortages or vehicle breakdowns, the new Fife Council administration must make sure that they are better prepared for this.

“There needs to be contingency arrangements made so that local residents do not find themselves with overflowing bins.

"I’ve been contacted by residents in Dunfermline Central and getting to recycling points is not an option for everyone.

“It is just not good enough right now. Particularly in this age of a climate emergency, we need to encourage people to recycle and this will not help. It must be sorted out.”

Cllr Calder added: “Green bins are only collected four-weekly and we all know how quickly they fill up. The fact that we have had two significant disruptions recently means it is important the council gets a handle on this quickly.”

Fife Council waste operation service manager, Sandy Anderson, said: “Our crews work hard to collect all of Fife’s bins each week, but sometimes that’s not always possible.

“Our service in West Fife is currently affected by staff absences and vehicle issues and around 4,000 properties did not have their green bin picked up last week.

“We’re asking people to take bins back in if they have not been serviced, and we’ll get them on the next due collection date.”