People living in Highfield have told of their rage after going more than six weeks without their recycling bins being emptied.

Households across the city have faced bin collection chaos after a change to the way refuse crews operate.

Under the previous system, crews could leave at 1pm if they had finished their bin round.

But at the end of January Southampton City Council changed this so workers have to finish at the end of their shift. This has led to delays and missed collections.

Highfield resident of 45 years, Jonathan Smith, 82, said that Westbourne Crescent residents had been without a recycling bin collection for more than six weeks.

He said: “We have been forced to put our recycling in with the rubbish – something we desperately don’t want to do, but it is the only way we can get it collected.

“In the age of delivery services, we all know that bins can get full up with cardboard very quickly.

“It's very disappointing as a council taxpayer – I would like to stop my payments to the council now until the day they collect my bin.

“Everything was fine before this change to the bin men’s operations – why change it?"

The council has said the reason for the change is so that crews are no longer incentivised to rush, which was meant to reduce the risk of injury or accidents and help with training.

Daily Echo: Tina Johnson and Jonathan Smith of HighfieldTina Johnson and Jonathan Smith of Highfield (Image: NQ)

Neighbour Tina Johnson, 62, said: “I have a pile of cardboard in my home that I will now have to take to the tip – at my own expense, even though we pay significant council tax.

“It’s not acceptable – we have no idea when the end date will be.

“It’s a stress we really could do without.”

Southampton City Council has apologised for the disruption, with the leader of the city council, Lorna Fielker, previously saying: "We are still experiencing disruption on household waste collections in patches of areas across the city.

"While we work to resolve the current situation, we are doing everything we can to clear backlogs and excess waste.

“We understand how frustrating this is for residents and urge people to keep reporting their missed bin collections online."