DISRUPTIONS to glass recycling collections in Southampton are likely to continue for weeks.

Southampton City Council has admitted that the national shortage of drivers means that despite efforts to get full collections up and running again, the problem is not expected to be solved for weeks yet.

The national shortage has meant that the council has struggled to cover seasonal staff holidays and sickness recently and as a result, glass recycling collections have had to be cancelled in certain areas.

Now though, the authority says it is in the process of shortlisting for interviews after advertising for a Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) driver and is also upskilling four existing Loaders to become LGV drivers.

A council spokesperson said: "We will continue to monitor staffing levels in order to deliver city wide waste and recycling collections during this time of national driver shortages.

"We have managed to continuously catch up by running additional collections on Saturdays. If your glass recycling collection is missed this week then please bring your grey crate or wheelie bin back in. Thank you for your continued cooperation - we will continue to keep you updated.

"This disruption is likely to continue over the coming weeks. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused, we are working hard to get full collections back up and running as normal. Public glass pods and banks will still be collected as normal and we encourage residents to use these where possible."