Grey bins 'prioritised' to cut dispute backlog

South Tyneside Council is to prioritise domestic waste collection, in order to get back on track during an ongoing dispute.

Since November there have been several rounds of industrial action by members of the GMB Union over bullying allegations.

The council has now said all resources would be focused on clearing the backlog and it would collect grey bins only over the summer due to the greater public health risk from household waste.

Residents are being asked to put the bins out every day.

The authority said it was "all hands on deck" to clear the backlog, with additional crews working six days a week.

It is also aiming to put in place a number of sites for recycled waste to complement the six existing ones, as well as the Recycling Village at Middlefields.

It said locations were being finalised and details would be available shortly.

A spokesperson for South Tyneside Council said: “We want to thank the public once again for their tolerance of the situation.

"We hope this no-nonsense approach will address the backlog built up as a result of current working practices and get collections back to normal."

The GMB Union, which is holding a ballot due to close on 14 June on indefinite industrial action, said that it was within the council's "power to stop" any future disruption.

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