Up to 5,000 communal properties across Somerset will not receive their new bin collections until the end of June, waste bosses have admitted.

The Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) is preparing for the final phase of its Recycle More roll-out, which sees more items being recycled at the kerbside and refuse collections moving to once every three weeks.

The Sedgemoor and former West Somerset areas are due to begin receiving the new collections on February 28, following successful roll-outs in Mendip in October 2020, South Somerset in June 2021 and the former Taunton Deane area in November 2021.

But people receiving communal collections (including those living in some blocks of flats) will have to wait a further four months for the new service because of staffing issues.

SWP managing director Mickey Green explained the rationale for the delay in a report published before a joint scrutiny panel meeting on Wednesday afternoon (February 9).

He said in his written report: "The continuing and unpredictable impact of covid (notably the Omicron variant) on staffing absence represents a risk to the smooth roll-out of phase four in Sedgemoor and West Somerset.

"The communal element of phase four will take place later than the mainline services. This is the same approach taken in Mendip to reduce pressures on the mainline roll-out.

"At present, this is scheduled for the week beginning June 27, though this will be reviewed and could change slightly to ensure the best fit operationally."

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The delay will affect around 5,000 households, the majority of which are in Sedgemoor.

Mr Green said he would be working with Homes in Sedgemoor to engage with tenants, and that all residents would be written to twice before the delayed roll-out began.

He added: "The full implementation of communal refuse changes will also result in some changes to days of collection from communal properties across the county (particularly on refuse), as Suez make improvements to the efficiency and resilience of their communal routing."

SWP employees have been delivering 'bright blue bags' to households since Monday (February 7) ahead of the roll-out.

These deliveries are being done earlier than in previous phases of the roll-out following feedback from residents.

Mr Green said: "Learning from its success in phase three, an informal network of community collection points for bags will be in place again for phase four.

"With the support of libraries, Co-op supermarkets and other community bases, these will provide a convenient solution for many customers who for whatever reason did not have a bag in time for their first collection – a nearby location where a bag could be collected rather than waiting for a replacement to arrive."

For more information on the scheme, including a list of what can and cannot be recycled, visit www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/recyclemore.