Somerset Council Press Release

Recycling collections delayed due to flooding across the county

The flooding which affected parts of Somerset on Monday and Tuesday (4 and 5 December) prevented recycling and refuse crews collecting from hundreds of households in parts of South Somerset.

Due to the scale of flooding, crews will be unable to return to some households whose waste collections were missed, including around 500 households in Merriott and Crewkerne. Residents are asked to bring their boxes and bags in and put them back out on their next usual collection day.

Crews will today (Wednesday), return to parts of Yeovil to collect recycling missed on Tuesday. Some residents in and around Yeovil and Crewkerne (due to have their recycling collected today) may have a delayed collection, any missed collections will be returned for tomorrow.

Due to the weather forecast, disruption to collections may continue for the rest of the week, but crews will be working on Saturday to collect missed recycling.

Residents are asked to leave their boxes and bags out for two days. If crews haven’t collected after this point, then please take waste back in and put it back out on their usual collection day next week.

Every week crews makes more than 350,000 collections across then county. While the vast majority usually run smoothly, Somerset Council understands the frustration when there are delays.

Anyone affected by delayed collections is asked to make the most of the space in boxes and bags by crushing, squashing and flattening items if possible.

*Please be aware further disruption is expected tomorrow (Thursday 7 December) with a weather warning for rain in place.

You can check whether roads in your area are impacted by visiting Roadworks and travel information (somerset.gov.uk). 

Keep up-to-date with live travel and road information on Travel Somerset X feed.

Remember – do not drive into flood water. Visit Adverse weather conditions (somersetroadsafety.org) for information about driving in bad weather.

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