Refuse service is rubbish - complaints rise

HUNDREDS of people say North Somerset Council's waste collection service is rubbish.A total of 607 people complained that the bin men forgot to take their waste between July 3 and 21.Missed refuse collection complaints rose to 271 from 74 during the same period last year.Recycling complaints dropped from 167 to 109 this year but 227 people complained about green waste collection.The complaints come during an on-going police investigation into the possible instances of fraud in the council's waste collection service between 1998 and 2003.Councillor Mike Roe said there were great concerns about the waste collection contract for North Somerset.He said: "It's not good enough and I think the council needs to do something about it."There are ongoing concerns about the domestic waste contract and so I am led to believe is still under a police investigation."North Somerset Council's environment chiefs say the number of complaints is small compared to the 330,000 collections that are made during a fortnight.Bosses say the number of complaints has risen from last year because some people are mixing green waste with refuse against the council's rules and are being left.Deborah Yamanaka, North Somerset Council's executive member for environment, said she hoped the collection service would improve.She said: "There have been a lot of complaints since February and the change in arrangements for collecting waste from the highway rather than the back door."The contractors do miss from time to time, but the number of complaints is too much. When there is a lot of complaints it does take longer to get them sorted out.