A spokesman for Enterprise said:

“Enterprise would like to apologise to Ealing residents after some refuse and recycling collections were delayed during the handover of the service.

The service was not delivered to an acceptable standard and we are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused. Extra crews are working evenings and weekends to clear the backlog and we will continue to work closely with the council to return the service to an acceptable level as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile Council Leader Julian Bell and Cabinet member Bassam Mahfouz say:

"We are very disappointed that we find ourselves in this situation. We are doing everything possible to ensure that as much of the borough as possible receives a regular service this week. We sincerely apologise to anyone whose service has been disrupted over the last week.

The service that Enterprise has provided residents in the first week of the new contract is completely unacceptable. There will always be initial teething problems when a new contract begins but the assurances that we have been given in the weeks and months leading up to the start of the contract have not been delivered by Enterprise.

Since the problems began we have been meeting twice daily with Enterprise, including once on Good Friday, to demand that they put things right as rapidly as possible and have been cycling around the Borough checking for and reporting any missed collections. Enterprise have put in extra resources at no extra cost to the Council and the service is now improving. The excellent service that we and residents expect, will we are sure, be restored rapidly. We apologise to anyone who has had a late or missed collection and reiterate our determination to provide a first class refuse and recycling service for the residents of the Borough.

We would like to reassure all residents that all recyclable materials are still being recycled. We appreciate the efforts residents make to recycle and we are ensuring these efforts do not go to waste.

We are seeking answers from Enterprise about how this situation has been allowed to occur. When we have the answers we will share them with our residents."

Cllr Julian Bell, Leader of the Council
Cllr Bassam Mahfouz, Cabinet Member for Transport & Environment

April 12, 2012