The rollout of a new bin system will be pushed back to 2027 in a move dubbed as "unacceptable" by councillors and an MP.

North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC) has announced that a planned rollout of its new waste and recycling collection system, including weekly food waste collections, will be paused until 2027.

It claims that the issue is "outside of the council's control" due to "unexpected issues" meaning the rollout will need to be pushed back.

The new bins were set to replace the current bags-and-boxes system in the district, with initial collections covering households on a Wednesday in Coalville, Hugglescote, New Swannington, Thringstone and Whitwick from November 2026.

Residents will eventually receive a 180-litre orange-lidded bin for plastics, cans, tins, foil, aerosols, and glass, and a 180-litre blue-lidded bin for cardboard and paper, which will sit alongside the standard black bin for non-recyclable waste and the garden waste bin.

Households will also get two new silver containers for food waste – a seven-litre indoor kitchen caddy and a 23-litre outdoor kerbside caddy for the new rollout.

However, the coalition-led council has blamed the delay on a number of problems including an issue with a contract to produce and supply the new bins as well as delays to the delivery of new lorries for food waste.

NWLDC bosses have said that the "issues" will take "a little bit more time" and said they accept the delay is "frustrating".

Cllr Michael Wyatt, Liberal Democrat deputy leader at NWLDC, said: "As many residents will know, I have advocated for a long time to replace the current boxes and bags with a simplified and more fit-for-purpose recycling system.

"It is frustrating that we have had to delay our plans to launch the new collections into next year because of issues with the production and delivery of the new bins and food waste collection vehicles that were beyond our control.

"Launching a district-wide change to a key service such as this is a huge undertaking and means there will be unexpected issues we must overcome.

"This is a huge project for the council, and it's imperative that we do it properly."

However, the delay has sparked fury among Labour councillors and North West Leicestershire MP Amanda Hack who have called for answers over the delay.

Cllr John Legrys, leader of the Labour Group, said there was "no excuse" for the delay.

He added: "Residents can understand that things sometimes go wrong. What they will not accept is being kept in the dark while the council knew there were serious problems developing behind the scenes.

"You cannot spend months telling residents that a major change is on track, only to announce at the eleventh hour that it is being delayed and then simply blame suppliers and global supply chains.

"This is about more than bins. It is about trust. When a council asks residents to change the way they use a fundamental public service, it has a responsibility to be straight with them.

"If there were problems months ago, residents deserved to know months ago. We need the council to come clean about the timeline, the warnings it received and why residents were not properly informed."

The MP for North West Leicestershire Amanda Hack said it was "clear there were significant problems with the project".

She added: "As you can imagine, residents have been contacting my office for updates on the progress of the new bins, especially in the wake of the disruption to local collection services of late.

"When I met with the chief executive and directors seven weeks ago, I was assured that the project was on track.

"This is disappointing news for local residents, and it is important that the council is transparent about what has gone wrong and gets to grips with these problems as soon as possible."