Bin collection times brought forward due to heat

A council has urged residents to put out their bins overnight to avoid missed collections, with crews starting their rounds earlier than normal to combat the hot weather.

Bedford Borough Council staff have been starting at 06:00 BST rather than 07:00 to protect crews from "heat-related illness", the authority said.

Temperatures in the area have been above 30C (86F) for a number of days, and they are due to be in the mid to high 20C for the rest of this week.

In a post on Facebook, Tom Wootton, mayor of Bedford Borough, said: "We know how important reliable collections are for residents, and bringing start times forward is one of the ways we can keep services going.

"We would like to thank our collection crews for the hard work they do to keep our borough clean and tidy, and we would also like to thank residents for their patience, understanding and support during this period of extreme heat."

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