Binmen were today battling to clear a backlog of rubbish and recycling from homes across Telford after the Arctic weather saw collections missed.

Snow and ice made conditions too difficult for some bin lorries and a number of expected collections could not be made over the past two weeks. Extra collections are planned to clear the recycled waste.

Nigel Newman, spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said: “Different parts across the borough were affected.

“It depended on the road conditions and whether the roads in those areas were gritted or not.”

The council has been trying to catch up during the lull in the cold snap and vowed that all missed rubbish should have been collected by the end of today.

Extra collections are also to be made tomorrow to catch up on recycled waste waiting for collection.

Council spokeswoman Jenny McGregor said the message from the authority was “Keep leaving out your rubbish and recycling and we’ll get back to you”.

She added: “Homes across Telford & Wrekin found some collections were missed over this week and last week due to the snow and ice, which meant the rubbish and recycling vehicles struggled to get into some streets. Additional resources were put into the catch-up operation, with the council’s contractors diverting extra staff and vehicles.

“All missed rubbish is now expected to have been collected by the end of today and extra collections will be made throughout Saturday to catch up on the missed recycling.”

The council asked residents to leave their bins and boxes in a safe place, not blocking paths or roadways.

Councillor Adrian Lawrence, cabinet member for environment, said: “We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the missed collections and hope to be back to normal very soon. In the meantime, please continue to leave your bins and boxes somewhere safe and accessible.”