AN EAST Cornwall councillor who warned that making so many changes to the waste contract in the county from April 1 would be a 'recipe for disaster' is calling for urgent action after waste collections were missed in Callington.

Callington's Mebyon Kernow councillor, Andrew Long, has called on the county's environmental department and their new contractors, Cory, to get together urgently to solve the 'unacceptable' situation where refuse, recycling and garden waste collections have been missed across the town since the new contract began.

'It is frankly unacceptable to have people messed around for two weeks now when the system that was in place before worked perfectly for the town and for many parts of Cornwall,' he said.

'We now have problems in many areas around Coronation Road, Moonsfield, Launceston Road, Liskeard Road, Chantry Park and Culmers Lane in the town. I have reported each miss using the on-line system as trying to make a call has been nearly impossible due to the level of complaints.'

Cllr Long said he warned about this before: 'To change contractors is one thing, but to change the route systems, lorries, containers, and terms and conditions of the workers all at the same time was a recipe for disaster.

'This whole event has been poorly managed from start to finish and some searching questions need to be asked about how, given all the warnings that were being flagged up, that no one in a position to make changes took on board the concerns.'

The councillor said he would be putting a motion to Callington Town Council next Tuesday calling for an urgent meeting with Cory and Cornwall Council.

A spokeswoman for Cornwall Council said: 'We recognise the concerns of people who have not had their waste collected and are doing everything we can to address this with Cory.

'We are working hard to ensure that we provide a high quality service and are confident that the measures we are putting in place will achieve this.'

She said the rubbish and recycling collection in Cornwall was one of the largest in the country and teething problems were anticipated due to the scale of the change.

'We are working through the enquiries as quickly as possible, but ask that the public please bear with us and check our frequently asked questions on the website http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/talkingrubbish">www.cornwall.gov.uk/talkingrubbish before ringing in. There is also an option to report missed collections using the online form on our website http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/missedcollection">www.cornwall.gov.uk/missedcollection

The new waste collection contract will save around £3m each year for the next eight years say the council.