Green bin collections have been suspended by Dudley Council until further notice in a bid to keep the regular refuse trucks rolling during the coronavirus crisis.

The garden waste collections were due to restart again on Monday. Council bosses say it will help them maintain regular weekly refuse collections and fortnightly recycling collections while operating with reduced staff numbers.

The situation will be reviewed regularly, and consideration will be given to extending garden waste collections beyond the planned finish date.

The Household Waste Recycling Centre in Stourbridge has also been closed with immediate effect and until further notice. Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of the council, said:

"We are living in tough and unprecedented times, but I want to assure residents we are doing all we can to maintain the key services we all need and rely on.

"That, of course, includes the weekly bin collections, and becomes even more important in the light of Government guidance for us all to stay at home unless it’s an emergency.

"We will do all we can to maintain regular collections for our residents and at the moment they are going ahead as normal.

For more information about Dudley’s response to the situation, visit dudley.gov.uk/coronavirus.