A JUNK service is becoming a victim of its own success.

For the past three months, Redcar and Cleveland Council's free junk job service has been receiving nearly 300 calls a week.

The authority promised to collect items within 14 days, but there is now a waiting list of three to four weeks because of Bank Holidays.

Assistant Director for Direct Works, Mike Hardman, apologised for the delay and appealed to the public to be patient.

"Given the number of requests we get, the crews do a magnificent job. We've been achieving 75 per cent collection rate within the 14 days.

"Our priority must always be to the refuse trade and litter collection. We will endeavour to clear the backlog as quickly as possible and hope to be in a position to offer the public the service they expect as soon as possible."