Southampton City Council has apologised to angry residents as a change to binmen's 'working practices' led to rubbish piling up across the city.

Many Southampton residents were left with their bins full of waste for over a week - sparking widespread frustration.

In a statement posted to Facebook, a spokesperson said: “We are working hard to address the current disruption to bin collections, which have resulted from changes we have made to working practices.    

“We apologise for the inconvenience and understand the frustration that missed bin collections are causing and we are working to minimise further disruption as we bed in these new ways of working.

Daily Echo: The council said the bins will be collected as soon as possibleThe council said the bins will be collected as soon as possible (Image: SCC)

“Please continue to put your bins out on your usual day and leave any missed bins out for collection, so we can empty them as soon as possible.”

The statement has garnered much criticism from residents on Facebook with many asking why the council did not foresee this issue when the changes were made.

One frustrated resident said: “My bin won’t be emptied now for nearly two weeks, my recycling will no doubt end up in household bin, causing that one to be full.

“As others have said - letting us know would have been good.”