Furious residents have demanded  waste contractor Biffa be held to account following revelations the ongoing rubbish collection chaos could cost £30,000

At a meeting on June 23, district councillor Will Breare-Hall announced that extra vehicles and staffing had already cost the council £13,274, with the potential for costs to more than double.

Two collection vehicles have been privately hired and as of last Friday (June 26) council staff had cost £7,842 in overtime hours as call centre operators struggled to deal with the huge volume of complaints about missed collections.

Members of the public have gone online to question the council’s decision to award the £50million, 10-year contract to Biffa following the issues that have beset the service since the four-day schedule started on May 12.

“I am sick to death with the council,” said Moira Hyland of Highwood Lane in Loughton, one of hundreds to suffer missed collections.

“I am getting so fed up with it, it is only since Biffa have taken over.

“I have been here for 28 years and I have never had problems before.

“They should cancel the contract if they cannot do the job.”

Cllr. Breare-Hall claimed the extra costs of the collection crisis will not cost the taxpayer “a single penny more”, but the council is not guaranteed to reclaim the money from Biffa and is currently using money from the Neighbourhood Directorates budget.

Responding to public anger cllr. Breare-Hall said: “I do not believe that awarding the contract to Biffa was the wrong decision but I do believe that these problems should have been addressed sooner by Biffa.”

The council and Biffa have been accused of reacting slowly since the crisis began.

Last Friday, the contractor introduced a new supervisor to monitor missed collections – a full month-and-a-half after the crisis began.

Residents have repeatedly been told the new service was introduced to avoid collection issues on bank holiday Mondays, but at last week’s meeting councillor Lesley Wagland asked if the rationale was simply to save money.

Epping Forest Guardian:

Cllr. Breare-Hall at the Civic Offices in Epping

Cllr. Breare-Hall said: “I made it quite clear that there was a cost saving here, as well as the benefit to residents by missed bank holiday Mondays.

“So it is a combination of the two factors, I do not personally feel that I have changed the message I am giving.

“Residents may be hearing more about this now than they were a few months ago, but my message has not changed.”

With rubbish and recycling remaining uncollected in some areas the crisis is continuing, but no time frame has been set out for issues to be resolved.