East Hampshire’s kerbside glass collection service has been suspended for another month, amid fears the district council’s waste service could collapse.

The district council announced its intention to suspend the service for another month from September 10 on Friday.

But it has promised residents if waste contractor Norse SE can recruit additional staff, kerbside glass collections will be reinstated “as soon as possible”.

The council has also vowed “this will be the last time” kerbside glass collections are suspended.

A council spokesman said: “We initially took the decision to suspend it for a month because we wanted to prioritise collecting your waste, recycling and garden waste during the ongoing national driver shortage.

“But despite a recruitment campaign for drivers and loaders, Norse SE needs more time to get its teams up to full capacity.”

The district council also instructed its waste contractor Norse SE to increase driver pay for the second time in just over a month on Thursday (September 1).

Following a fast-tracked decision by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) leader, Cllr Richard Millard, the council agreed to increase the drivers/supervisor hourly rate from £13.50 to £16.00, a 18.5 per cent increase.

The loaders/administrator hourly rate will also increase from £11.10 to £12.50, an increase of 12.6 per cent.

However, the extra cost must be met by EHDC despite council papers blaming the “unacceptable” service failures on neighbouring Havant Borough Council (HBC).

Norse SE was launched in 2016 as a joint venture between Norfolk County Council-owned Norse and Havant Borough Council. It is described on the Norse website as a “highly successful contract and frontline public service provider”.

East Hampshire joined the partnership in July 2019, but announced in mid-August it had instructed officers to investigate an “expedited exit” from its collections contract as it struggles to complete rounds.

East Hampshire also formally agreed to end its 12-year partnership with Havant Borough Council in March.

The EHDC decision report states: “EHDC is experiencing severe service failures by HBC, the waste collection authority.

“Due to the geographic and demographic makeup of EHDC, the collection authority and their joint venture partner Norse SE experience significant difficulty recruiting and retaining staff to deliver the service in EHDC.

“Current vacancy levels and reliance on temporary agency staff have put this service at the point of critical failure without immediate action or any proposal for resolution.

“When challenged regarding recruitment and retention, Norse SE has cited that the remuneration package to drivers/supervisors and loaders/administrators is insufficient to attract and retain staff.

“Norse SE has suggested an uplift to both driver/supervisor and loader/administrator rates in the EHDC area to attract new and retain current staff.”

The papers add: “Failure to address these issues urgently will result in further degradation of the service and a high risk of complete service collapse.”

The EHDC spokesman continued: “We are pulling out all the stops to ensure this service gets back on track as soon as possible.

“We are really sorry for the inconvenience this is causing and thank you so much for your ongoing patience – we really are doing everything we possibly can to help Norse SE recruit.

“If you know anyone who would be interested in one of the jobs then please share this link.”