Garden waste collections in Basingstoke and Deane will be suspended next week after several members of staff were forced to self-isolate.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has said the suspension is in order to "protect waste and recycling collections".

The fortnightly collection is a subscription-only service that costs up to £60 per year.

It comes as concerns are raised nationwide about the so-called 'pingdemic' - where people are being told to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid.

But it also comes after the government announced last night that workers in the local government and waste sectors would be able to avoid self-isolating if 'pinged' if they have had two doses of a Covid vaccine. BDBC has yet to confirm whether they will be making use of this.

One positive case

The borough council said in a statement that one member of the waste collection crew tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday (July 22), without having any symptoms.

As a result, he is self-isolating for ten days, as well as the crews that he worked with on Wednesday and Thursday.

This has led to a staffing shortage in the waste collection team, and BDBC has made the decision to suspend fortnightly garden waste collections in order to "protect" waste and recycling collections.

It means no garden waste collections will be carried out for the week of July 26, with collections deferred two weeks later, depending on "staffing levels nearer the time".

It is a move that harks back to March 2020, where a similar decision was made by the authority to protect main waste collections as a number of staff contracted Covid in the early days of the pandemic.

It saw waste collections controversially reduced to fortnightly the following month.

The council warned earlier this week that waste collection services across the borough could be disrupted as a result of the staff shortages.

Residents are asked to leave bins out if they are not collected on their target days.

'We apologise for the inconvenience'

BDBC said in a statement: "Unfortunately, we have been informed that a crew member who has been working with no symptoms has today had a positive COVID-19 test result. He must self-isolate for 10 days, as well as the crews he worked with yesterday and today.

"The number of staff now able to work means we now have to suspend other services to try to protect the waste and recycling collections, as far as possible.

"Therefore, we will not be able to carry out next week’s scheduled garden waste collections in Basingstoke and Deane.

"We hope to be able to collect garden waste on the next date due, a fortnight after that, if possible, but it will depend on staffing levels nearer the time. We will update the website and social media with any changes.

"We apologise for the inconvenience that will be caused. But we hope residents understand that maintaining waste and recycling collection services as far as possible, while protecting our frontline staff and ensuring they are doing all they can to reduce the spread of the virus, is our priority."

£88 million contract

Waste collection services in Basingstoke and Deane, as well as Hart, are run by the Hook-based company Serco in a lucrative £88 million deal.

They came in for criticism when they took over the contract in 2019, with scores of residents complaining their bins were not collected for weeks on end.

It also prompted one opposition councillor to declare that "Serco isn't working" as statistics revealed in October that the number of people satisfied with their waste collections reached its lowest level since the firm took over the contract.

And The Gazette reported last year that BDBC had loaned the firm £5 million, interest free, to purchase 44 rubbish trucks.