NOW the weather conditions have improved, Focsa Services UK Ltd, the contractor for West Devon Borough Council, is making good made progress in picking up the recycling and waste which they were unable to collect prior to and during the Christmas holiday period.

The extreme weather disrupted collections for several days prior to the holiday period.

However, crews worked on all bank holidays to clear the backlog from all areas where it was safe to do so.

In some areas where ice was still a problem, crews used wheelie bins and walked to properties to collect the waste which could then be taken back to the vehicle where it was safely parked.

Focsa crews have been, and continue to work long hours to get the service back to normal.

Additional crews have also been deployed to assist in this task.

Residents should continue to keep waste and recycling at normal collection points until it is picked up.

If for any reason your waste is not collected on your normal collection day, please leave it out. If you find your collection has been missed at the latter end of the week, crews will still be making collections over the weekend.

The whole borough will continue to receive black sack, food waste and recycling collections until next Monday (January 10) when the card and green waste service will resume its normal alternate weekly cycle.

A spokesman for the borough said: 'We thank householders very much for their patience during this period of unavoidable service disruption.'