Garden waste collections in Richmond will begin again after a month of suspended collections due to bin men isolating.

Collections for garden waste have been suspended since July 17 due to shortages of bin men who were ‘pinged’ by the NHS Track and Trace App.

But the council’s contractor Serco believes new changes to self-isolation will have a positive impact on collections.

Garden waste bin collections will resume on Monday (August 16) in Richmond.

As of August 16, fully vaccinated people who come into contact with positive coronavirus cases will no longer have to isolate.

It’s hoped fewer bin men will have to isolate if they have been double jabbed, meaning bin schedules will be on track but there could still be delays, the council warns.

It has been confirmed all garden waste contract holders will be compensated for collections missed.

Richmond Council are finalising the plan for this and will contact holders directly via post and email to confirm the details.

The authority urges people to put as much in your bin as possible and anything left beside your bin will still be collected.

The council said: “The service will resume but there may still be some delays, particularly as we get the service back up and running and collect the backlog of waste.

“Please bear with us and please check [our website] for details of specific missed collections.”