Cheshire East will not be introducing weekly food waste collections until the autumn.

This also means the council's plans to change black bin collections from fortnightly to every three weeks will be delayed until the same time.

New legislation means every household in England ought to be getting weekly food waste collections from the end of March.

But Cheshire East is one of many councils across the country which will miss the deadline.

Cllr David Jefferay (Independent), chair of the environment and communities committee, said: "As the third‑largest unitary authority in the North West, the scale of change required for Cheshire East to introduce weekly food waste collections is on a completely different level to that faced by many other councils.

Cllr David Jefferay, Wilmslow East, Independent (Photo: CEC).

"Delivering this service for around 190,000 households is a major operational project.

"Before we can launch, we must expand our depot facilities, install new infrastructure, purchase a large fleet of additional food waste collection vehicles and tens of thousands of kerbside caddies, which have long lead‑in times due to nationwide supply chain pressures – and recruit and train extra crews."

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He said some councils were not rolling out the weekly collections until next year.

"Despite the size and complexity of the programme for Cheshire East, we have made strong progress and remain on track to launch weekly food waste collections in the autumn," said Cllr Jefferay.

He added: "This week, the council has also launched a communications and engagement campaign to encourage residents to recycle more and reduce waste.

"This will also help households get ready for the introduction of weekly food waste collections and the move to three‑weekly black bin collections."