People in a Stockport village paying 'some of the highest levels of council tax in the country' will have to wait more than a month for their bins to be collected.

The move has been labelled unfair and unacceptable.

Across Bramhall in Stockport, a number of residents have not had their blue bins collected because Stockport council-owned company Totally Local Company deemed them to be too full and left open. Blue bins for paper and cardboard recycling in Stockport are collected every four weeks.

This means their next scheduled collection will not take place until August 27, eight weeks after their bin was last collected on July 2.

When people have approached the council to report the missed collection too, they have been told this is not possible because the bin crews reported the bin lid as 'open'. Bramhall councillor Peter Crossen said the situation was unacceptable and he is 'extremely unhappy that it's Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme and Woodford being picked on again'.

The latest bin row is a continuation of a controversial decision by the local authority to enforce a rule for bin crews to not collect any bins where the lid is open. This operational decision appears to have been made to protect bin crews which the local authority has said has to be in line with manufacturer guidance.

However nearly 900 bins were not collected over the course of a few days leading to anger and disbelief across parts of the borough as well as criticism of the Liberal Democrat-run council from opposition parties. The local authority since said it would go around to collect bins again that were left initially and apologised for the lack of communication around the change.

However for those in Bramhall, this was not offered as the cut off date for the catchup was July 29, the day before collections in that part of the borough. Coun Crossen believes the situation was unfair many in his ward did not get the message in time.

He told the LDRS: "The council want to build almost a quarter of new homes in our local area but cannot even collect our bins? And worse still, they arranged remedial action across Stockport, everywhere but here where l residents are expected to wait another month when no doubt uncollected bins will be overflowing."

In an email seen by the LDRS, Stockport council officers said the numbers in Bramhall were 'relatively low' but 'the decision to implement a cut-off point was not about being unfair or unwilling to assist', adding: "We were required to establish a clear operational end point to the additional collection arrangements. Whilst maintaining delivery of the wider waste collection service across the borough."

In response, Coun Crossen said: "Whether the number of affected residents is five or five hundred and five is entirely beside the point. Every resident of Stockport is entitled to the same standard of service and the same courtesy from the council.

"They also happen to pay some of the highest levels of council tax in the country, and rightly expect a waste collection service that is fair, proportionate and responsive.

"The communication advising residents of this change was issued on Thursday 30 July. For residents whose blue bins were due to be collected that very day, the communication arrived after the point at which they could take any remedial action.

"It is therefore wholly unreasonable to expect those residents to bear the consequences of a policy they had no practical opportunity to comply with.

"The suggestion that those residents should simply wait until Thursday 27 August for their next scheduled blue bin collection is, in my view, completely unacceptable."

A Stockport Council spokesperson said: "We share the frustrations of residents whose bins were not collected and understand the inconvenience this caused.

"Like many waste collection services, the policy is in place to help keep our collection crews safe while they're carrying out their work. Bins that are overfilled or have lids left open can present health and safety risks when they're moved and emptied.

"We remain focused on delivering a safe and reliable service for residents across the borough."

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