WALTHAM Forest Council cancelled all rubbish collections on Thursday and will not clear the backlog before usual pick-up times, it has emerged.

The revelation means hundreds of homes in the borough will have to wait until the next few days before two weeks' worth of waste and recycling is cleared from outside their homes.

On Thursday and Friday of last week collections were called off following the bad weather.

And dozens of households that were missed out last week still have their wheelie bins out on the assumption that the council will clear the backlog before usual collection days.

Roland Hayward, retired, of Park Hill Road in Chingford, contacted the council last Friday to be told all collections were on hold and his bin was finally emptied today.

He said: “I congratulate the Post Office, since the postal service here during the past couple of weeks has been excellent, with deliveries being made on most days.

"But the rubbish bins in this area have not been emptied since the last week in December.”

He added that it was the first time he had ever experienced any problems with the refuse and recycling collections.

Waltham Forest Council’s cabinet member for environment, Cllr Bob Belam, said: "Our staff have been working extremely hard to maintain regular services throughout the cold weather.

"Where this has not been possible, we have sought to ensure services were reintroduced as quickly as possible.

"Throughout this period we have sought to keep residents aware of the status of our services through regular, daily updates on our website."

Information on the local authority's disrupted services can be found at : http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/index/news/service-disruption.htm