A CONTROVERSIAL shake-up of south Oxfordshire’s rubbish collection service has been beset with teething problems, householders claim.

South Oxfordshire District Council launched its £8m system 16 days ago in an effort to radically improve its recycling rate.

Only 44 per cent of waste is currently recycled, but the council aims to double that with the new system.

Last night, officers apologised to residents who had been inconvenienced and promised to iron out “teething problems” by the end of the week.

Each home in the district was issued with one black and one green wheelie bin for bi-weekly collections of non-recyclable household rubbish and recyclable material.

The district also became the first in Oxfordshire to offer a weekly food waste collection service and, in its first week of operation, binmen collected 85 tonnes which would have gone to landfill.

Previously, general waste was collected weekly from the kerbside in black sacks, and a green recycling box emptied weekly.

However, some residents said they had still not received bins or sacks, and had spent hours trying to contact contractor Verdant on its 03000 610610 helpline.

Some householders, who paid £32 a year for the opt-in garden waste service, have suffered week-long delays to collections, while many more have not received the cornstarch bags which line kitchen caddys.

Tim Day, 59, of Croft Road, Wallingford, is still without rubbish sacks – despite repeated attempts to contact the council.

He said: “I phoned them and they promised they would be delivered by the end of the week.

“They didn’t arrive so I phoned them again. They said they would be with me for June 8 in time for the start of the service.

"I informed them as I had no bags for my rubbish I would put it out in black bags.”

He added: “But I had to go up the road and give the bags to the binmen to take away. I no longer phone the council, I’ve given up on them.”

Siobhan Atherstone, 46, of Wilding Way, Wallingford, said she had tried calling the helpline for four hours and had suffered delays to her garden waste collection.

She said: “They should have rolled it out town-by-town and dealt with the problems as they arose.

“I haven’t met one person with a good word to say.”

Peter Burton, of Wantage Road, Wallingford, said he had problems with his garden waste collection and getting through on the phoneline.

He said: “It was a complete mess.”

Wallingford Town Council clerk Andrew Rogers said frustrated residents had contacted him about problems after failing to get through on the helpline number.

didcot@oxfordmail.co.uk