THOUSANDS of homes will have their rubbish collected at night during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the council has confirmed.

The authority says households located between the A406 and Lea Bridge Road will have their collections from 4am, while those in the south will have their rubbish picked up "from 8pm" and onwards.

News of the plan was leaked to the Guardian earlier this year but the council refused to confirm the details.

At the time, refuse staff said they were concerned about the safety of carrying out collections in the dark.

Households in the north of the borough will have their rubbish collected as normal from 6am, the council claims.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, cabinet member for the enviornment, said: "It’s the only way to guarantee weekly collections, and while making collections late at night and early in the morning is obviously not ideal, it is necessary to guarantee residents don’t experience missed collections."

The changes will be in operation from July 27 to August 12 and again between August 29 and September 9.

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