City of York Council's recycling chiefs have hailed the major roll-out of the kerbside collection as a huge success - despite some initial teething problems.

The service, which collects paper, glass and cans from residents' homes has expanded to take in an extra 40,000 houses across the city from the beginning of the week (Monday, 30 June). 60,000 homes, three quarters of all those in York, will now receive the fortnightly service.

In the first three days of the roll-out over 83 tonnes of glass, cans and paper have been collected for recycling.

But the recycling team have issued an apology to a small minority of people who did not receive their recycling box and bag when they expected. Kristy Walton, Head of Waste Strategy, City of York Council, said: "The roll-out involved an additional 40,000 houses and although most of the new areas received their recycling box and bag, a small number of streets regrettably missed out. With such a large increase in the collection area, it was almost inevitable that there would be some teething problems.

"We are determined to ensure that everyone receives their boxes in plenty of time before they are due to be emptied and the recycling team have agreed to deliver the remaining boxes and bags by working either this weekend (5/6 July) or next weekend (12/13), depending on the collection rota."

Some households have also had their refuse collections days changed to ensure that they take place on the same day as the recycling collections. A small number of houses may have missed the collection crew due to the changes, and to help minimise the inconvenience, the waste team will take a reasonable amount of extra rubbish from these houses on their next collection. Anyone who has not received their recycling box and bag by Monday, 14 July, should contact the waste and recycling helpline on 01904 636000.