BIN collections were halted in Wellington towards the end of last week due to ‘staff shortages’.

A spokesperson for SWP said: “As with all organisations with key workers, we and our contractors instruct staff to self-isolate and have precautionary testing if they have any concerns for themselves or any members of their household.

“This is why we have had some collection difficulties with staff shortages in recent weeks, and why we occasionally have too few crew members to complete collections in an area on a specific day. That was the situation in Wellington recently, for which we apologise.

“That very careful approach is combined with a very wide range of other safety steps for collections and recycling sites in line with all the advice for the waste industry from Public Health England.

“To ensure safety for residents and crews, we continue to emphasise the importance of hand washing, disinfecting handles and maintain a social distance from waste staff.”