A FINE of more than �61,000 has been imposed on the company responsible for collecting waste and recycling in North Somerset.

North Somerset Council has ordered May Gurney to pay up in the wake of 7,000 complaints from the public over missed collections since January 2.

A spokesman for the council has apologised for ‘the poor service May Gurney provided over the festive season’.

He said: “May Gurney brought in an extra 20 per cent in manpower and vehicles. We were informed this would be ample extra provision.”

Some staff then called in sick and an increase in recycling of 45 per cent contributed to the problems.

The spokesman added: “Frank and very informal discussions have now been held with May Gurney to put more manpower into this contract.

“The director says he will respond within three weeks.

“I want to assure everyone that this service will get better once these issues are resolved.”

A spokesman for May Gurney said: “We are sorry for the delays that some residents experienced in their refuse and recycling collections after Christmas.

“We experienced exceptionally high volumes of rubbish and recyclable materials after the holiday season and it took longer than we would have wished to get back to a normal service.

“We have not been advised by the council of the value of penalties it is considering applying.”

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