THE number of missed bin collections in Trafford has soared this year.

In 2016, almost 8,000 bins were not collected, but figures released this week reveal that between January and September this year, there have been more than 9,000 missed collections — a 15 per cent increase.

This comes from a Freedom of Information request by Altrincham resident Kevin Parker.

He claims that based on the 2017 data provided, with an extra three months remaining of the year could result in a total of 12,060 missed bin collections — a 53 per cent increase against 2016.

But Trafford Council disagrees with his interpretation and said that the data shows it is on course to collect 99.87 per cent of bins as scheduled, and is testament to the hard work of the crews.

Mr Parker said: "On average, 10 million residential bins are emptied per annum. While the missed bin collections are a small percentage of the overall number of bins collected, it remains a source of anger and frustration for at least 9,045 residents so far this year who just want their bins collected on a regular basis.

"Once a bin collection is missed, additional waste is created that can further compound the problem as Trafford Council refuses to accept bags of waste next to bins, even though this additional waste was generated due to its failure of not collecting the bins in the first place.

"Residents have no option but to put built up waste (that could be re-cycled) into the grey bins, that head off to landfill at a huge cost to Trafford Council.

"From my own experience of reporting missed collections, it took more than 21 days to be resolved after sending more than 20 emails to One Trafford Customer Service team and contacting the Executive board of Trafford Council.”

Waste collections are carried out by Amey — the contractor appointed by Trafford Council in 2015.

Last month, in a separate FOI request by Mr Parker, Messenger revealed that the firm had been fined more than £150,000 for failing to meet standards.

Following this he submitted a further request after seeing several complaints about bin collections across social media and wanted to better understand the current levels of service provided by Amey.

Dan Jerrome, Green Party campaigner for Altrincham, said: "This causes big problems for the individuals affected. Residents have told me that this has been a real frustration. Uncollected bins have caused bad smells, attracted vermin and make the streets concerned look a mess.

"Local people feel that Trafford Council is putting money first. They need a decent, reliable bin service. Amey is not providing this and action is needed from the council, to ensure that Amey are fulfilling their duty."

Trafford Council had 26 vehicles manned by 78 staff in 2015, which has reduced to 25 vehicles manned by 75 staff from 2016 to date.

The council was unable to provide any reason why the residential bins were not collected as it does not record the information.

A council spokesman said: “Trafford Council collects in excess of 800,000 residential waste bins every month from households across the borough. Using the details provided in the Freedom of Information request, the data shows we are on course to collect 99.87 per cent of bins as scheduled, and is testament to the hard work of our crews who work in all weathers to provide a high standard of service.

"Whilst we do not wish to see any deterioration in standard, it is however inevitable with a service of this scale that on occasion things do go wrong and when they do, we work hard to rectify the issue quickly.

"In addition, if performance is consistently below target, then penalties are levied to both incentivise service improvement and protect the interests of Trafford taxpayers.

"The final number data for 2017 is not yet available and the number of households we collect from increases each year as more homes are built, therefore the council does not agree with the interpretation applied by your reader to the data released.

"In recent months between July and September, 2017, the number of missed bins has decreased by 50.6 per cent and we anticipate this to reduce further in coming months as more staff are recruited.

"By creating the One Trafford Partnership, we have seen a significant investment in brand new bin lorries across the fleet to improve reliability and ensure the latest technology is available for use by our crews."

Anyone with a missed bin can report it online at my.trafford.gov.uk or by calling 03330 035865.

Figures over the past three years show:

• 2015: 5,124 bins not collected

• 2016: 7,882 bins not collected

• 2017: 9,045 bins not collected (Jan to Sept 2017)