BIN collections should be back to normal across East Cleveland next week, following the suspension of industrial action.

Following the truce between Redcar and Cleveland Council and its cleansing staff, it is hoped that bin collections will now return to normal, possibly by next Monday.

Arrangements for Christmas are being drawn up and will be advertised in the next couple of weeks.

Mike Hardman, the council's assistant director of direct works, said: "We are now in a position to deploy additional men and vehicles from our cleansing section to supplement the existing service to ensure we tackle the backlog as quickly as possible.

"This is our priority," he added. "For the remainder of this week, we are endeavouring to do our best to collect those bins that should have been collected."

The council is 'reasonably confident' that as near normal a service as possible will be restored next week and is asking householders to put out bins ready for collection on their usual day.