At the meeting of Portishead Town Council tonight there were complaints about the rubbish collection service in Portishead - the one they call the 'recycling revolution.' Despite some residents sorting their rubbish and recycling, setting their alarms for 6.15am to make sure it was all out for collection at 7am - the lorries never turned up, People who don;t get a wheelie bin are being given TWO binliners a week for their rubbish, No more, no less, apparently. Is anyone else encountering problems with the new service? Tell us here! Oh and what does everyone think of the 'rubbish police' at the tip? Bring back the days where you could go to the tip, have a look in the units and pick up a real recycled bargain!

I note that North Somerset have moved the goalposts with regard to the refuse collections. I live in a property where it is deemed by North Somerset that I do not have enough room for a wheelie bin, so I have been supplied with some poor quality black sacks (enough for two a week). Throughout the consultation process and until my recycling containers and sacks were delivered this week, we were informed that our refuse would be collected weekly along with our recycling, but now we are informed that it will only be collected every two weeks.

North Somerset must not be allowed to change the collections for those of us who have not got a wheelie bin to every two weeks. One must ask if North Somerset deem we have not got room for a wheelie bin, where do we keep four sacks of rubbish until collection day.

If this is allowed to continue, fly tipping will become a real problem, as some people will undoubtedly resort to doing this. Those of us who are lucky enough to have a car can go to the recycling centre but for people who do not have a car, what do they do?

We hear of North Somerset receiving hundreds of complaints regarding missed collections. I ask is the contractor financially punished for missed collections and if not you have to ask why would North Somerset sign a contract without this clause in it. I have a neighbour who has poor mobility and has an Assisted Collection and her refuse or recycling has not been collected for three weeks, including yesterday!

Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, has recently stated that he wants to end fortnightly collections of refuse, so why is North Somerset starting this practice when they know that the government department responsible for this wants to return to weekly collections.

I urge Portishead Town Council to write to North Somerset and express their dismay at the amount of missed collections, and that some people will be forced to place their black refuse bags on the street for many days before they are collected as they have nowhere else to store them. Portishead is a lovely town where the community works hard to keep the town looking nice, if refuse is allowed to pile up it will spoil the town for everyone.