GARDEN waste collections in Denbighshire may be reinstated later this month.

In response to coronavirus, the local authority has introduced changes to protect the health and well-being of the public and its staff.

The suspension of garden waste services is one of these changes as well as the temporary closure of the household recycling centres at Ruthin, Denbigh and Rhyl.

Household waste and recycling collection services have been operating as normal.

Cllr Brian Jones, cabinet lead member for Waste, Transport and the Environment at Denbighshire County Council, said: “Due to many of our frontline workers being unwell or self-isolating, we have brought in workers from other service areas and teams to ensure we’re able to run our more essential collections as best we can, such as food waste recycling, dry recycling (such as cardboard, paper, glass, plastics and cans), hygiene waste (such as nappies and incontinence products) and non-recyclable waste.

“We have prioritised our efforts on these essential collections, but we have cancelled some of our less-essential collections, such as garden waste collections. We recognise that this is proving difficult for subscribers, especially since we have experienced such great weather and we share their frustration.

“Our intention is to reinstate the service as soon as possible, but we cannot do that at this stage due to the ongoing national restrictions and some staff being unable to work safely due to underlying health conditions, which put them at significant risk. However, this position is under constant review.

“We aim to resume the service during May, and we will inform residents as soon as we have a definite date for resuming the service through our web and social media accounts.

"We would like to thank everyone for their patience during this period”.

Until the service is reinstated, the following advice has been issued:

Store garden waste in a neat heap in the corner of your garden, turning it occasionally (weekly) to keep it aerated.

Do not put garden waste into your bags, bins, boxes or caddies for recyclable nor non-recyclable waste.

Do not burn garden waste; this creates air pollution that could harm people nearby who may already have breathing difficulties due to Covid-19. There is also the danger that fires could get out of control. Fire services around the country are reporting an increase in callouts due to garden fires.

For residents that have paid for the service, the council will extend subscriptions to cover the duration of any missed collections since the service was suspended. For example, if the service was suspended for two months, the Council will extend the collection at no extra cost for the weeks missed.

Those receiving subscription reminders are asked to action them, to ensure their collection service resumes when the service is reinstated.