A Kingston resident has called the council’s garden waste service “a waste of money,” after several missed collections.

Faqhi Rehmani has since stopped his subscription because of the poor service.

He said: “They believe no one can touch council and they are above the law.”

Figures revealed in an Freedom of Information Request sent by the Local Democracy Reporting Service showed there were 8,149 reported missed bin collections between January and November 2019.

July saw the most missed collections with 1,172 reported in the month, and Canbury Ward won the award for the most missed collections, with 814 reported over the course of the year.

While these figures relate to all types of bin collection – residents have been particularly critical of the council’s paid-for garden waste service.

The additional service requires a £72-a-year subscription for a fortnightly pick-up.

Mr Rehman said he has experienced numerous problems with the service, including issues with communication. 

He said when he complained, the council claimed he did not have a subscription, then said he was not leaving the bin outside of the boundary to be collected, before suggesting that he was leaving mixed rubbish inside.

“I called them 10 times and received different statements every time. I wasted a lot of time on calls, even submitted an online query and then wrote on their Facebook page.

“They refuse to refund and refused to compensate the weeks they missed.

“I asked them again and again for any manager or team lead details, but they were unable to share any senior members who can listen or solve my issue. I paid for the service I never received.

“I’m totally disappointed about the wasted money,” he said. “I’m not getting the garden waste service any more.”

Another resident John Carleton also said he had experienced problems, and that his garden waste had been missed this month.

“The council website is useless,” he said.

However, he said that an employee at the council offices was “very helpful” and ensure the bin was emptied.

Nevertheless, Mr Carleton says this has happened on three different occasions.

A Kingston Council spokesman explained there was a change in contract arrangements in April last year, which resulted in an increase in missed collections.

The spokesman said this was “not unexpected” due to changes in routes and collections for a number of houses and flats.

They added that Canbury Ward is likely to see more missed collections, because it has the highest number of domestic properties in the borough.

“We collect recycling and waste from over 68,200 properties in Kingston; of the 800,000 collections that take place each month, more than 99 per cent are completed on the scheduled day.

“Missed collections and performance issues are reviewed at the regular contract meetings with the service provider and actions are agreed to ensure that these are dealt with effectively and efficiently, and collections performance has since improved.”