THE change to fortnightly rubbish collections in Welwyn Hatfield has got off to an embarrassing start – with “too much” waste being left out for binmen to pick up.

Nearly 30 roads in the Digswell Park and Handside areas of WGC did not have their garden waste collected today (Tuesday) – just days into the first stage of the changeover to fortnightly collections.

A short statement on Welwyn Hatfield Council’s website admitted residents had left out more rubbish than binmen could cope with as they got used to new routes.

The statement read: “Unfortunately we have been unable to service some of the roads in the Digswell Park and Handside area today.

“This is due to the volume of garden waste presented and the crews familiarising themselves to the new collection rounds.”

The statement added Serco’s refuse operatives would “aim” to return to the roads missed tomorrow (Wednesday), so residents were advised to leave their garden waste out for collection.

This is not the first problem the �3.4m scheme has encountered.

Last week, the Welwyn Hatfield Times reported how hundreds of residents in WGC, Digswell and Woolmer Green were left baffled when they received conflicting leaflets from the borough council – telling them their collection date was changing to two different days.

The council blamed an “administrative error” for the confusion.