The leader of the Welsh Conservatives on Powys County Council has accused the current administration of making it more difficult for residents to recycle.

Cllr Aled Davies, former leader of the council, has said the people of Powys are receiving a ‘poor service’ and appealed to the authority to get kerbside collections sorted.

Throughout the summer, staff shortages have hampered waste and recycling collections in Powys.

Collections were often missed over the summer months, with Powys reassuring residents they were doing all they could to ensure that recycling boxes did not go longer than a fortnight without being emptied, and additional separated recycling left in bags alongside the boxes were accepted. .

Last week, the authority also announced that glass and paper recycling banks will soon be removed from the community recycling sites across the county.

Cllr Davies said: ‘’There have been problems all summer with the recycling service. In July at a Full Council meeting, I sought assurances from the Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member for Recycling, Cllr. Jackie Charlton about the service, in response I was told, ‘We have put everything in place to make sure it shouldn’t happen again.’

‘’Clearly, that is simply not true, and the people of Powys continue to receive a poor service but on top of this the Liberal Democrat/Labour run council have this week announced that they are removing the remaining bottle and paper banks from across Powys. My plea to the Cabinet at Powys Count Council is please get the kerbside collection right first before contemplating further removal of the bottle banks. It is clear that this current Council administration are making it harder, not easier to recycle.

‘’However, I must thank the hard-working recycling teams across Powys, who are working long hours to try and deliver this important service, but they are being let down, the Powys County Council Leader must demand that his Cabinet member gets a grip of the situation or show her the door.’’