Trafford Council has slammed its “failing” bin collection contractor, saying it isn’t delivering for residents.

The authority has written to its waste contractor Amey demanding it immediately improves the bin collection services in the borough as the company is placing the council “in breach of statutory duties”.

The letter follows months of complaints from fed-up residents after a change in the timetable for collecting household waste in October – but some residents say they’ve had issues with the company for years.

Amey is paid by the council to collect domestic waste as part of the One Trafford Partnership agreement between the two organisations.

The strongly worded letter comes after repeated meetings with Amey at a senior level where concerns were raised about the collection service and assurances were sought by the council on actions to improve performance.

The council said: “Unfortunately, these meetings have not led to the improvements that the council was expecting”.

They went on further to say: “The service is failing and immediate action is needed to remedy the situation.”

The letter adds that under the current situation Amey’s “persistent failures” are placing the council in breach of its statutory duties around waste collection.

It adds that there are also health and safety concerns due to the fact that rubbish has not been collected from certain locations for a long time.

The letter demands that a series of measures are taken to deal with the problems in the short-term.

These include:

Supervisors monitoring all collection rounds to ensure completion for all properties until there is a full cycle of rounds at the required performance level

Additional resources to be deployed to ensure full completion of each round on the day due for collection

A proactive communications plan to provide accurate information to councillors and residents on performance and the improvement plan

The drawing up of a detailed plan setting out how the service is to be maintained at the required contractual levels

The letter warns that if there is no improvement in the service, the council will look to step in and run the service on a temporary basis to get it back on track.

Trafford Council Leader Coun Andrew Western said: “The waste collection service is simply not up to scratch – it is failing and the residents of Trafford deserve better.

“I am getting complaint after complaint from angry and frustrated residents and I share their anger. What is happening is not good enough. Amey need to get their act together.

“We were promised the route changes implemented back in October would lead to an improvement in the service but despite repeated assurance at the meetings we have had with Amey, it has not happened – the service has got worse.

“Residents repeatedly face not having their bins collected and as a Council we cannot stand idly by and that is why we are demanding action.

“Partnerships involve working together but I am afraid Amey are not delivering on their side of this partnership.”

An Amey spokesperson said: “Amey is committed to working with Trafford Council through the One Trafford Partnership to continue improving the quality of our waste collection service.

“We recognise that the service has so far fallen well below the standards expected of us and we apologise to customers for the frustration and inconvenience this has caused.

“We continue to work closely with Trafford Council to adjust our rounds and resolve issues in areas with repeated missed collections.

“Additional resource has already been dedicated to empty outstanding missed bins and we expect customers to see a significant improvement in the coming days.”