CONCERNS have been raised by community leaders in Haxby over problems with bin collections.

Wrapping paper and packaging were not taken away from homes in the town for four weeks over the festive period and residents have questioned City of York Council’s collection policy during Christmas and New Year after their recycling bins were left to fill up for 28 days.

The town’s recycling waste is normally collected on a Thursday, but with both December 25 and January 1 falling on that particular day, residents were left waiting until the new year to have their bins emptied.

Although residents were warned this would happen and every home was provided with a leaflet outlining the schedule, the issue has been raised by Haxby Town Council, who will write to the authority for an explanation.

Mark Scott, clerk to the council, said: “We received a number of complaints regarding the recycling collection in the village over the Christmas and New Year period.

“The collection day is always on a Thursday but this year Christmas and New Year fell on that day, so in essence, wherever you lived in the village, there were four weeks between collections.

“Residents complained that when they got presents and cardboard boxes they didn’t get them collected, so the decision was made for the town council to write to City of York Council to say the residents weren’t happy.”

Mr Scott said the main authority made an attempt to alleviate the problem by arranging an extra rubbish collection on the Saturday after the new year, but many residents were still unhappy with the organisation.

Haxby resident Margaret Evans, who wrote to The Press, said: “Can someone at the council please explain the logic behind the bin collection in Haxby over the Christmas period. Both the black bin and recycling were collected on December 18.

“By the time they come to empty the recycling bins it will have been 28 days.

“Would it not have made more sense to collect the recycling on the eighth?”

Neil Ferris, assistant director of City and Environmental Services at City of York Council, said: “Every home in York received a grey waste bin collection the week before and another grey collection the week after Christmas, so no home went longer than two weeks without a collection.”

He said new calendars were sent to over 80,000 homes across York before Christmas and said the collections this year were in response to requests from residents, who had said they found recycling easier to store.