A SOMERSET MP has criticised the halt in garden waste collections, saying it will place 'intolerable burdens' on the frail and the elderly.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, says the suspension will also put additional pressures on waste recycling centres.

Somerset Waste Partnership made the decision to suspend the garden waste collections for six weeks, so staff could help with the recycling and rubbish collections backlog caused by Covid-19 and a national driver shortage.

READ MORE: SWP suspends garden waste collections in Somerset for six weeks

Sarah Dyke, chair of Somerset Waste Board, said: “This is not a decision that SWP has taken lightly and I know this will frustrate a lot of people.

“We, like many authorities, are in a really difficult and unprecedented situation with the national driver shortage and continued impact of Covid, in terms of more waste to collect and, more recently, self-isolation.

“The board is following the situation closely and will be making sure that SWP and its contractors are doing everything they can as soon as they can to get services back to where they should be.

“In the meantime, please bear with the crews who have been working flat out throughout the pandemic collecting the extra waste we have all been producing.”

But Mr Liddell-Grainger has said he will be writing to the Government, to seek assurance the suspension will not be used as a 'back door route' to a permanent reduction in collections.

"I know very well to what an extent elderly and frail people who are unable to access or use a recycling centre rely on their garden waste collections,” he said.

“Being able to have garden waste taken away is a great bonus: losing that facility is going to cause intolerable difficulties for many of them.

“I fully accept that many of the partnership’s staff may have been pinged as possible Covid contacts but simply to axe one of its services completely smacks somewhat of a panic reaction.

“Householders in Somerset are already receiving what many of them regard as the bare minimum of waste and recycling collections.

"I can promise the partnership a massive outcry if this step turns out to be a prelude to further reductions in their frequency.”

Mr Liddell-Grainger has also said he will be asking SWP for a firm date as to when the service will resume.

SWP has said it will resume on September 13, but they have said they will suspend the garden waste subscriptions by eight weeks - allowing two extra weeks for the busy time of the year.