Bin collections have been suspended in part of the North East to protect the health and safety of workers.

As temperatures rose today, a decision was made to stop collections of recycling and green waste in Redcar and Cleveland.

The heat wave has been causing disruption across the country, including on the the rail network, which had 40 per cent fewer passengers today amid cancellations and reduced services. 

The local authority apologised for any inconvenience and said it did not think there would be any further disruption after today.

Read more: Horrific scenes as fire rips through village and destroys homes amid heatwave

A Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council spokesperson said: "With temperatures remaining very high throughout the borough, we've taken the decision to suspend collections of recycling and garden waste for the remainder of the day.

"We've taken note of the areas that haven't had their collections and we plan to get the crews back out on Saturday, Sunday or Monday to catch up.

"The crews are going to concentrate on getting household waste bins collected today and we will let you all know the plan to collect recycling and garden waste as soon as possible.

"If you've not had your recycling or garden waste collected today, please bring your bin back in for now and present them for our crews on the reorganised collection day.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause but we are sure that you understand that the health and safety of our crews is hugely important to us.

"With temperatures set to fall after today, we don't expect any further disruption to collections for the rest of the week."

Read more: The areas of the North East that are without power due to heatwave

 

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