Bin collections suspended on Monday due to snow and icy conditions

Bedford Borough experienced heavy snow over the weekend, and below zero temperatures overnight and into this morning have seen potentially treacherous driving conditions.

For the safety of Council staff and other road users, bin collections have been suspended on Monday 25 January and these bins will be collected tomorrow. The Council will work to catch up throughout the week, so please do place your bin out on your normal day- as out of the way of pedestrians as possible- and it will be collected either as normal or the day after.

The Council has been gritting roads in the Borough throughout the weekend, and headed out again Monday morning.

The salt does not directly melt the snow, it works by traffic mixing it in to create a salty solution which doesn't freeze as quickly as water which reduces the build-up of snow. But with the heavy snowfall we have seen and the very cold temperatures overnight, there is a yellow warning of ice in place.

Given the low levels of traffic currently using the roads due to the national lockdown, gritting is likely to be less effective than normal as there are far fewer vehicles around to 'traffic in' the salt by crushing and spreading it across the road surface.

Councillor Charles Royden, Environment and Transport Portfolio Holder said "With the conditions of roads after the heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures we have seen overnight, we have suspended bin collections today for the safety of our crews and other road users. Our gritting crews have been working really hard throughout winter and over this weekend, trying to keep our roads as safe as possible and have already been back out today to spread more salt. Please stay at home as much as possible, and if you have to go out - take care and drive very carefully."