Labour councillors are calling for an inquiry into ongoing missed bin collections caused by problems at Barnet Council’s Oakleigh Depot following further complaints from residents.

Missed bin collections have been reported in at least four roads in East Finchley in the last three weeks – Benedict Way, The Causeway, Fortis Green and Manor Park Road – with reports of other missed collections in Woodhouse, Colindale and Coppetts wards. Residents in The Causeway have complained about missed black bin collections and no green bin collection for two months. Residents in Benedict Way were apparently told by the Council that they will only collect waste in black/grey bins.

The Council has said the missed collections are due to “operational issues” but maintain these “are localised one-offs” and that they are being done weekly “though not necessarily on scheduled days”.

In April the Council admitted vital works were taking place to repair the concrete floor at the Oakleigh Depot resulting in widespread missed bin collections across all three constituencies in Barnet. The works were supposed to be completed by 23 April, but councillors have received continued reports of missed bin collections after this date.

Labour’s Environment Spokesperson, Cllr Alan Schneiderman has submitted a Member’s Item to the June 5 Environment Committee calling for an inquiry to investigate the cause of the problems and whether compensation is owed to the Council.

Cllr Schneiderman said: “This bin fiasco has been going on for weeks now, and residents deserve to know the truth about what has happened. We were told the problems at Oakleigh Depot had been fixed, but now we learn there are still issues.

“The Barnet Conservatives presided over the disastrous relocation of the council’s waste depot to Oakleigh Road, South. They paid £9 million more for the site than it was worth, and they appointed Capita to procure and oversee the construction works at the site. The works were carried out by Wilmott Dixon but have been completely mismanaged and apparently are still not rectified.

“The Barnet Conservatives made weekly bin collections a central pillar of their local election campaign, but they are already failing on this pledge and it has only been a couple of weeks since the election.

“They cannot get anything right.”