All garden waste collections in Richmond have been suspended as bin men have been forced to self-isolate.

The five-day cancellation is in a bid to prioritise household and food waste collections in the borough and will last until Friday (July 30).

In Barnes, a number of roads were unable to get their recycling taken away on Monday (July 26) – again due to workers having to self-isolate.

The council say collections missed will be recovered within two working days.

Richmond Council said on their website: “Due to a number of collection crews having to self-isolate, we do not have enough staff to continue all routes.

“As such, some collections have been affected whilst we prioritise household and food waste collection.”

Last week, 13 bin men in Wandsworth and Richmond were off-sick due to Covid.

This comes as dozens of councils in England have faced delays to their bin collections due to staff self-isolating because they’ve been ‘pinged’ by the NHS Track and Trace app.

Serco, who are contracted by Richmond Council for waste collection have refused to provide any more numbers of bin men self-isolating in the borough.