Rubbish collections were delayed by ‘mindless vandals’ after a tyre-slashing rampage took place in Weston-super-Mare at the weekend.

Seven waste collection vehicles had their tires slashed at the Biffa Waste Services depot on Winterstoke Road, causing substantial delays to collections in Backwell, Portishead, Weston and Yatton.

Five vehicles were identified as damaged when crews turned up to work at 6am on Monday.

However, two vehicles without obvious damage were allowed to leave the depot, only for the damage to be discovered later in the day when their tyres failed.

No-one was harmed, however, a spokesman for North Somerset Council said the vandalism caused a ‘serious risk’ of injury to the crews and other road users.

Cllr Peter Bryant, executive member for recycling and waste services, said: “Our vehicles travel all over the area, using the motorway and major roads.

“This could have had fatal consequences for the crews and other road users.

“Luckily the crews’ swift action avoided any collisions occurring. But the people who did this should think very carefully about their actions which could have cost people’s lives.”

Biffa has been working to catch-up on its collections, however, business manager Hugo Jacobs says his crews have lost nearly a third of a working day’s worth of work on some routes.

He said: “We are working hard to minimise the knock-on effect of the vandalism.

“All of the damaged vehicles will be repaired today so that we have the full fleet available to us tomorrow (Tuesday).

“We ask residents to bear with us while we catch-up on the rounds that may be unfinished today due to the disruption.

“I am sorry for the impact that this thoughtless act will have on hundreds of householders.”

Mr Jacobs says that if collections are not made today, residents should leave their bins out for collection tomorrow morning.

The matter has been reported to the police.

Avon and Somerset police have been approached for comment.