Bury Council is reminding residents that, over the festive period, there will be no planned changes to blue, green or grey bin collections.

Due to reduced garden waste at this time of year, brown bin collections will be paused for a brief period fromDecember 26  to January 9.

This means, say Town Hall chiefs, collection crews can put extra effort into emptying the other bins which can fill up more quickly at this time of year.

Blue, green and grey bins should be put out by 7am on their scheduled day and all waste must fit inside with the bin lids fully closed.

Residents can help make the most of the space in their bins by squashing and flattening recycling items and by squashing and squeezing air out of bagged rubbish.

Extra bags of waste will not be collected; however they can be taken to the household waste and recycling centres which are open every day except 25 December and 1 January.

Cllr Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “Our crews will be out on weekdays throughout the festive season collecting bins as usual.

“I want to reassure residents that our crews will be doing everything possible to keep collections on track, but we cannot rule out snow and ice or winter illness causing delays.

“If collections are unavoidably delayed, please leave your bins out so our crews can empty them as soon as possible.

“And don’t forget - you can get email reminders and updates if you sign up here.”

To assist crews with completing collection rounds, residents are asked to park their vehicles where they won’t obstruct the collection trucks.

Cllr Quinn added: “If a collection throughout your street is missed, our crews will know about it and will return as soon as they can.

“But if an individual bin is missed this can be reported online at www.bury.gov.uk/missedbin.

“And finally, ‘tis the season to look out for your new collection calendar which will be delivered during December.

“When it arrives, keep it in a safe place and use it to guide you on what goes in each of your bins.”

To check bin dates online and sign up for our bin alerts, click here.