Some councils are starting to resume garden waste collections as more staff return to work from isolation.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC) will resume its services from Monday, and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) will start the following week.

The services were suspended in early April to prioritise essential collections for recycling, refuse, food and clinical waste.

Both councils say enough refuse collectors, who have been off sick or isolating, have now returned for the collections to continue.

Residents with brown bins are asked to put them out by 7am on their usual collection day.

Householders are being asked not to overload their bins as the councils are expecting a backlog of garden waste.

Extra bags will not be collected as they use up truck capacity and prevent rounds being completed.

Subscriptions to the service are being extended to cover the period when it was not possible to collect garden waste.

Nicolas Heslop, council leader at TMBC, said: “This has been a hugely challenging period for many of our frontline services and I’m pleased we are now able to resume these collections.

"It will be a big task to clear the backlog so we would appreciate it if those with a lot of garden material to get rid of could stagger what they put out over a few collections. This will help ensure crews can complete rounds and no one misses out. Looking further ahead, we will continue to keep all our operations under review and do everything possible to provide the services people need in line with the latest government guidance.”

Cllr Matthew Bailey from TWBC said: "It was a difficult decision to suspend the garden waste service at a time when people were turning to gardening because of the lockdown. But the decision freed up experienced collection crews to focus on refuse, food, recycling and clinical waste collections to keep them running smoothly. It is a relief for all of us that the service can now be restored, and I would like to thank all subscribers for their patience."

To check your collection date in Tonbridge and Malling, click here.

To check your collection date in Tunbridge Wells, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Tonbridge

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