AN apology has been issued to Wellington residents whose recycling and waste was not collected after the Easter weekend.

They were among about 12,000 households across Somerset where the bins had not yet been collected.

Somerset Council said contractor SUEZ was mobilising teams to collect the bins from doorsteps on Sunday (April 12) to ensure the crews were able to start next week with a clean sheet.

A council spokesperson said the recycling service had faced ‘challenges’ during the week after the Bank Holiday due to staff shortages because of sickness.

The spokesperson said it was feared the backlog would grow on Saturday when collections in other areas were likely to be missed after the disruption which occurred on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

They said: “All affected residents are advised to please leave their recycling out and this will be collected on Sunday.

“Thank you for your patience.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”