AN Irvine resident has spoken of her relief after claiming her bins were collected for the first time since January.

Theresa Weir contacted the Times to complain about her rubbish not being collected for 13 weeks since North Ayrshire Council introduced its new waste collection programme at the start of the year.

And after contacting us, North Ayrshire Council were quickly round to her home, in East Road, to take her bins after weeks of complaints to NAC.

The Times told back in February how residents in Irvine’s James Crescent had fallen foul to the changes which have since been resolved.

Although she was delighted her rubbish was eventually collected, Theresa has blasted the council for the delay and claims she has been “fobbed off”.

She said: “Our rubbish had not been collected for 13 weeks since the council introduced their new routes for the bin collection. I know I’m not the only person to have suffered from this but I still feel as though I have been fobbed off.

“I live above one of the shops on the High Street but my address is East Road and it could be quite difficult to reach but I’ve seen the council vehicles in and out of the car park over the last few weeks.

“I’ve been in constant contact with the council about the problem but they’ve just not listened.

“I haven’t had them lifted since January but I was pleased when they were finally collected last week, it’s been difficult to say the least!” The council’s decision to change the bin collection days as a cost cutting measure has sparked outrage right across North Ayrshire, with a dramatic surge in call-outs and complaints.

It was revealed that in the first week of the new system being introduced, the council received 1,423 requests from residents compared with the average of 700-900.

Despite residents claiming to not have been informed about the changes, the bin men were arguably the most confused as many had to contend with picking up rubbish from unfamiliar routes.

North Ayrshire Council were unable to comment on Theresa’s specific complaint but apologised to residents for any inconvenience the route changes may have caused.

A spokesperson for NAC said: “The new waste collection rounds continue to settle in across North Ayrshire as our crews become familiar with their new routes.

“We appreciate the concerns of residents and would like to apologise for any inconvenience and thank everyone for their cooperation and patience.

“We have apologised to the resident and after discussing the situation are confident the matter has been resolved.”