Bin collections will take place in Fife on Saturday in a bid to clear a mounting backlog caused by staff absences.
Fife Council says it is struggling to fulfil its regular bin collection service due to high levels of Covid-related sickness.
A spokesperson for the local authority says the issue is affecting areas across the kingdom, with some bins not emptied over the last week.
The council is responsible for about 250,000 bin collections every week, ranging from landfill and paper to garden waste and recyclable materials.
Anyone who has not had a bin collected is being asked to put it out for collection on Saturday (April 2).
It comes just months after the council was criticised for failing to collect bins across the region because of similar staff shortages.
A statement from the local authority said: “As you know cases of Covid are really high right now and our staff are no more immune than anyone else.
“A lot of people are off sick and it’s affecting our waste collection services.
“Crews are working flat-out to get to most bins, but unfortunately they just can’t make it to everyone.
“If your bin was due to be collected this week but hasn’t been lifted yet, please leave it out.
‘Our staff are only human’
“We’ll have crews out on Saturday April 2 to clear as much backlog as they can.”
The council says if bins have not been collected by Saturday evening, they should be taken in and they will be emptied on the next collection day.
The statement added: “We know how inconvenient this is, but our staff are only human so please try to understand, thanks.”
