North West Leicestershire District Council has asked residents to do what they can to stop waste crews being 'overwhelmed' when cardboard collections return to the Ashby area next month.

The yellow bag collections are coming back on a monthly basis North West Leicestershire.

The council plans to resume them from Tuesday, June 23, which will alternate every two weeks with the monthly garden waste collections.

Households in the district will receive a postcard in the post informing them of the returning collections and to explain how the monthly collections will work.

Fortnightly collections of cardboard were suspended at the end of March due to staffing pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the requirement to help recycling and waste crews follow social distancing guidance.

Additional drivers and loaders are being recruitedWork for the Council, applications close on Thursday, June 11 in order to deliver the service and a new recycling vehicle has been hired to add capacity to the service's fleet.

Residents will be able to put out extra cardboard that does not fit in their yellow bag(s), as long as it is flattened to no larger than 4ft x 4ft.

When additional cardboard is put out, residents are being asked to either weigh the additional cardboard down or put it into cardboard boxes.

Councillor Andrew Woodman, Portfolio Holder for Community Services at NWLDC, said: "We want to thank residents for their patience whilst we worked to bring these collections back – we know how important cardboard recycling is to you.

"We are also grateful to the many residents who have stored their cardboard until now, meaning we can ensure it is disposed of in a sustainable way and sent for recycling.

"Our recycling crews will have a huge task on their hands collecting cardboard which has built up in recent weeks.

"We ask you to please be patient whilst they work through the first rounds of collections and appreciate anything you can do to prevent our crews being overwhelmed.

"Although our collections are not quite back to normal yet, please be assured we continue to work to balance the delivery of our key services with the safety of the public and our collection teams."

Residents in North West Leicestershire can stay up to date about recycling and waste services at NW Leics waste service updates