GREEN bin collections across South Lakeland are returning to a normal fortnightly schedule from this week.

But South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) says it may still be several weeks before collections return to pre-pandemic levels, as crews work to clear the huge tonnages built-up during lockdown.

The council is appealing to residents to help by considering how much green waste they present now that the full collection service has resumed – and is asking that only one green bin per household is put out for collection over the next few weeks.

Cllr Philip Dixon, SLDC’s portfolio holder for Customer and Commercial Services, explained: “We suspended all green waste collections in April in response to reduced staffing levels due to the Coronavirus outbreak and restrictions to ensure crews could work safely and comply with social distancing guidelines.

“We were able to reintroduce a monthly green waste collection from May and this continued through June. For the past few weeks we’ve been trialling a full reintroduction, getting crews back up to full strength with appropriate PPE in place and assessing collection volumes on the rounds.

“What has become apparent is that there has been a huge increase in green waste, even compared to the same period in previous years. Understandably, lots of people have been busy in their gardens during lockdown, especially during the fine spell of weather. As a result we have seen massive tonnages of green waste being picked up in the last month, even though we hadn’t yet got back to a full fortnightly collection in all areas.