Drivers being hired in Southampton to help bin collections

A nationwide shortage of lorry drivers and HGV drivers is causing issues across the country, with bin collections one of the areas hit hardest.

It has been exacerbated in some areas by the so-called pingdemic - where staff are having to isolate if they have come into contact with someone who has Covid.

Hampshire councils have been affected by the driver shortage, with collections missed and delayed in Eastleigh. Winchester and the New Forest over the past few weeks.

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A spokesperson for Southampton City Council said: "The ongoing national shortage of drivers has meant that we have struggled to cover seasonal staff holidays and sickness in recent weeks. Consequently we have had to cancel glass recycling collections on various days in a number of areas. We have managed to continuously catch up by running additional collections on Saturdays.

"We are now in the process of shortlisting for interviews after advertising for a Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) driver and are also upskilling four of our existing Loaders to become LGV Drivers. We will continue to monitor staffing levels in order to deliver city wide waste and recycling collections during this time of national driver shortages."