Residents in North Ayrshire have been reporting issues with getting their brown bins emptied on time this summer.

A street in Dalry was impacted for several weeks, with bins being left to build up for nearly a month before the Herald got in touch with the council.

One resident of Mains Road in Beith told the Herald of their brown bin saga.

She said: “It seems to be a serious problem in the council at the moment. I put mine and two of my neighbours’ brown bins out last Sunday (June 27), ready for a Monday morning collection (June 28).

“One of the three bins was emptied but two were not – meaning that I have had to pile up garden waste on tarpaulin until they are emptied.

“I have now spoken to the council three times. Last Wednesday I was given no explanation or apology and told they would be emptied with four working days – that was up on Tuesday so I called again on Wednesday and was just told they would basically be emptied when they are emptied, which really isn’t of any help and at this point I am not expecting them to be emptied before the next scheduled emptying on Monday. This will mean that as soon as they are emptied they will be refilled.

“This seems to be happening regularly in Beith as I have seen a few times this year alone that the local councillor has posted updates with when the bins will be emptied.

“But also I have a friend in Kilwinning who relies on the assisted pull out scheme whose bin was due to be emptied the end of last week and too has not been emptied within the specified time.”

After the Herald contacted the council about the ongoing issue with the brown bins, the bins in Beith were finally emptied.

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council said: “We apologise for the delay and can confirm that the brown bins at this location were collected this week.

“We are currently experiencing high demand as the tonnage collected through our brown bins has increased significantly as more people are at home due to the pandemic as well as enjoying their gardens. This, combined with our COVID-19 control measures, has meant our brown bin collection rounds are taking slightly longer at present. We would like to thank everyone for their patience.”