Cheshire East's refuse service has come under fire after repeatedly missing bin collections.

Councillor Chris O'Leary says he spends hours each week dealing with missed collections covering large sections of his Sutton ward.

He says that recently, three scheduled black bin collections were missed in large parts of Langley, with recycling bins then also left uncollected at the end of March.

Councillor O'Leary said: "I recently ran a Facebook survey on missed bin collections.

"70 households completed the survey, 70% of whom said that they had experienced repeated missed bin collections in the past six months, and only three reported that the missed bins were collected within the advertised five working days.

"Refuse collection is a basic service that we all get.

"The council is just getting it wrong."

Councillor O'Leary continued: "There needs to be a better understanding about why this service is failing, and a plan to turn it around before the black bin collections every three weeks are introduced later this year.

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"When the council first proposed black bin collections every three weeks, I raised serious concerns about the consequences for missed bin collections.

"As the council simply does not collect these within the advertised five working days, missing two scheduled black bin collections will mean rubbish lying around in bins for up to six weeks. This is just not acceptable."

Councillor David Jefferay, chair of Cheshire East Council's environment and communities committee, explained that the recent issues with collections have been caused by staff shortages.

As such, the council is currently working to bring in more drivers, loaders and supervisors.

Councillor Jefferay said: "We would like to reassure residents that we are working hard to maintain a reliable service.

"Our waste and recycling teams have recently been operating with staffing levels below our full quota. To manage this, crews have been covering additional shifts, while we continue to bring new employees into the service.

"We currently have a number of vacancies for drivers, loaders and supervisory roles. Interviews are ongoing for these positions. We have new staff starting this week with further candidates progressing through the next stages of our recruitment process.

"Where necessary, we put recovery plans in place, including asking for staff to work overtime or on scheduled days off, so that collections can be completed as quickly as possible.

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"We apologise to any residents who have experienced disruption. Ensuring a consistent, high‑quality waste collection service remains a priority for the council, and we are taking steps to increase staffing resilience and improve service reliability as these roles are filled."

Cheshire East's Labour and independent groups have both been approached for comment.