THE district council has suspended its normal rules on refuse collection to help ease the backlog created over the Christmas period.

Epping Forest District Council's waste collection service was badly affected by the recent icy conditions on the road leaving some residents waiting up to four weeks for their black bin to be be taken away.

A spokeswoman for the district council said: “It is hoped that all these missed collections will have been caught up by the end of this week.

“The Council has suspended its normal rules on the putting out of side waste and will take away all waste put out for collection until the backlog has been cleared. Residents are reminded that dry recycling (including glass) can be put out in any container (except a black plastic sack) and the crews will collect it.

“Christmas trees will also be collected as part of the food and garden service, provided that they are not taller than, or have been cut down into pieces of, not more than four feet (1.2 metres).

“Residents are requested to continue to separate their recycling as this is particularly important at this time of year due to the volumes of glass, plastic and paper packaging in the waste stream.”