Local Councillors have received an update on the Gritting and Refuse collection service as they continue to battle against the snow and ice etc.

The Councils Head of Waste Management has confirmed that Gritters were out all weekend and 535 tonnes of salt were spread on Sat and Sun alone.

Today all Street Cleaning staff are employed on gritting duties including in town centres and refilling of grit bins. All 5 gritting vehicles are also out at the moment (as of 9.30am).

Refuse/recycling collections were severely disrupted on Friday in the Ramsbottom/Tottington area due to snow and ice. The Council have vehicles in the area today mopping up missed grey bins as best they can, but if anything conditions will be worse than they were on Friday.

Brown bin collections are effectively suspended today with contents of bins frozen solid in any case.

It was debatable as to whether the Refuse collection service should have been suspended or not on grounds of H&S.  A decision was taken not to suspend the service, however all collection crews went out late and combined with the road conditions it will inevitably mean that not all of today’s work will be completed.

Councillors have been assured by Bury Council that they are doing their very best to get all collections made before Christmas in very difficult circumstances.

I know colleagues have received a number of phone calls complaining about a lack of gritting in some areas or on some streets and I can assure residents that we will be seeking answers to these queries/complaints in due course.