"SEVERE" staff shortages have forced a Hampshire council to suspend its garden waste collection service for at least four weeks from Monday.

New Forest District Council is blaming a combination of staff having to self-isolate and a national shortage of HGV drivers.

As reported in the Daily Echo, staff sickness and a shortage of drivers recently resulted in waste collection services being disrupted in Southampton.

A district council spokesperson said: "NFDC will suspend their garden waste collection service from next week for a minimum of four weeks amid severe staff shortages.

"NFDC has experienced staff shortages across the whole waste and recycling service recently and despite some vacancies being filled, there is now not enough staff to carry out all the services provided."

The spokesperson said the council had decided to suspend its garden waste collection service to allow it to continue collecting household waste and recycling from the 80,000 homes in the district.

"Staff from the garden waste service will be redeployed to black and clear sack collections.

"The suspension is likely to be for a minimum of four weeks, and will be kept under review, reinstating as soon as possible."

Cllr Steve Davies, portfolio holder for environment and coastal services, added: "It is of course regrettable we are faced with this situation to suspend the garden waste service, but core services of residual waste and recycling must take priority.

“These staff shortages are due to a number of factors, including self-isolation and the national HGV driver shortage that has received widespread national press coverage, affecting services across the country.

"Officers are doing all they can to solve this and are working with agencies, and advertising for additional staff.

“I am sorry to any of our residents who use the garden waste collection service who may be inconvenienced by this and I ask for their understanding while we do all we can to enable the service to start again.”