A huge shake-up of bin collections in Bolton is 'already bringing in significant improvements' according to Town Hall Chiefs.

Bolton Council says that since the changes were brought in on July 15, figures show that there has been a 50 per cent reduction in missed collections.

And council bosses add that more than half of those missed are due to no access for collection vehicles as opposed to operational reasons.

The authority says it is working with residents and local councillors to try and make access to these collections easier on collection day.

A breakdown of collection rounds is said to show that number of missed bins due to operational reasons has already reduced by 20 per cent since the changes came into force.

In the first major change to collections since 2010, routes have been revised to increase "reliability, enable more efficient waste collection and improve customer service".

New vehicles have also been invested in.

Fitted with more energy efficient engines, the new vehicles will use less fuel per mile travelled and produce less CO2 emissions.

So far, 15 of the 19 new collection vehicles are now in service with the remaining four coming in by the end of August 2024.

Cllr Richard Silvester, Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment said: “Thank you to our residents who have gotten on board with this change in service.

“The design of the new rounds and new vehicles are improving the service and it’s very encouraging to see these results after only a few weeks.

“We aim to build on these improvements as the final four vehicles will soon come into service to complete our fleet replacement.

“Cars blocking access is still an issue for missed bins on some streets so please consider your parking to ensure collection vehicles can pass through.”

To report a missed bin visit the council website. This enables the council to track repeat occurrences most efficiently.

Bin collection days are listed on the council website: www.bolton.gov.uk/nextbincollection.

For more information about bin collections and recycling, including some FAQs around the changes, visit www.bolton.gov.uk/bincollections.

Changes also included beige bin collections, for paper and cardboard, moving from every two weeks to every four weeks from this week.

The council has said that, over the years, a significant reduction in the purchase of newspapers, magazines and paper in general has meant waste collection crews have found many beige bins are not full on collection day.

Cutting beige bin collections from two weeks to four weeks is one of a raft of cost cutting measures agreed as part of Bolton Council's most recent budget.