Residents in Bootle are experiencing ongoing delays to their bin collections as Sefton Council manages a shortage of staff across the borough. The local authority is currently asking households to keep their bins at the kerbside to await collection.
Sefton Council’s current statement says: “Due to staffing issues, a small number of bin collections are currently delayed. Please leave your bin out and it will be collected as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.” The council attributes the delays to staffing issues affecting the borough’s waste collection service.
The collection delays occur as the council continues its roll-out of a new waste system across the region. As of 24 March 2026, the Sacks to Bins scheme is being extended to households in the Blundellsands, Church, Litherland, Linacre, and Victoria wards, moving them from weekly black sack collections to alternate weekly wheeled bin collections. This follows an initial introduction of the scheme in Bootle’s Derby Ward in August 2025.
While the council manages these logistical changes, residents are also seeing the return of garden waste collections, which resumed across various areas in March 2026 following a winter suspension. Looking ahead, the council is also preparing to introduce mandatory weekly food waste collections from Autumn 2026, in line with national legislation requirements. The local authority maintains a net budget of over 393 million pounds for the 2026/27 year, though it continues to navigate financial challenges that impact the delivery of public services.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
