COLCHESTER Council is asking residents to unfreeze their garden waste bins to help bin crews who have been unable to collect some bins this week.

Colchester residents are being asked to try unfreezing bins as the country, including the south of England, has experienced snow, ice, and below freezing temperatures this week.

Some frozen garden waste bins have also not been collected this week and it will not be possible for crews to return this week before the next collection. 

Colchester Council has said as the contents of the garden waste bin are more likely to freeze, residents if they can, can prevent it by doing the following.

  • Use a small amount of warm water to release the lid and then dry them to prevent re-freezing.
  • Use a spade to loosen any garden waste on the morning of collection.
  • Don't overfill your bin and compact the garden waste as this leads to a greater chance of it freezing.
  • Consider leaving your garden waste bin in a warmer place such as in direct sunlight, in a shed or in a garage.

Temperatures are likely to reach 0C or below tonight and the Met Office predicts for Saturday that it will turn "much milder" with wind, rain, and a maximum temperature of 12 degrees.