SOME homes in Herefordshire are having their bins left on the roadside unemptied as the council suffers a shortage of drivers.

A shortage of lorry drivers in the UK and the "pingdemic", where the NHS Covid-19 app tells people to self-isolate, meant some bins were not emptied.

Herefordshire Council spokesperson said the waste industry as a whole was suffering from a "severe shortage" of lorry drivers, made worse by self-isolation.

They said there was currently an "unusually high rate" of workers being off sick and our its contractor said provision was being put in place to try and avoid anything similar happening again in the future.

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Any residents who have seen their rubbish go uncollected should visit the council's website or call 01432 260051.

They said: "Residents are asked to leave their waste out for collection after reporting it and we will return as soon as possible.

“We will continue to monitor the performance of the service and will deal with any issues as necessary.”

The impact of the "pingdemic" appears to be improving. NHS figures showed 918 people in Herefordshire were "pinged" by the Covid app in the week to July 28 – down from 1,655 the week before.

The Unite union estimated a shortage of around 75,000 lorry drivers in the UK and said improvements in pay and welfare facilities for drivers were needed to make the industry more attractive for new entrants.