Richmond Council today confirmed there has been zero upheld collection complaints in the borough despite a sharp rise nationally.

Complaints went up by 12 per cent in the UK in the past year and the rise is being blamed on councils outsourcing the service.

In fact, the council has outsourced household bin collections to Veolia but a council spokesperson told the Richmond and Twickenham Times that “no complaints regarding collections have been upheld”.

Nationally, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman upheld more than four-fifths (81 per cent) of its investigations into complaints about services involving rubbish.

In one instance, a man had to take his rubbish to a relative for more than three months because the council failed to collect it.

And a man receiving assisted collections did not have his recycling bin returned to the right place for 10 months, with waste crews telling him it took too long to bring it back.

Michael King, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “Councils can contract out their waste services, but they cannot wash their hands of it.

“They are responsible and accountable for delivering those services, and for putting things right when they go wrong.

“Outsourced should not mean out of touch.

“Whether the service is outsourced or not, we shouldn't be upholding 81 per cent of the complaints we investigate - this is too much, particularly for a service that should be relatively simple to get right.

“I hope councils take on board the learning points from our report, particularly by properly overseeing contractors; ensuring people's concerns are listened to, and appreciating that contracting out and charging for services brings with it different expectations from the public."

Martin Tett, environment spokesman at the Local Government Association, said the number of complaints to the ombudsman was very small compared with the millions of households who had waste collected each week.

He said: “Councils know that having a reliable and efficient waste collection and recycling service is hugely important to residents.

“It is actually one of the most popular services councils provide with almost 80 per cent of people happy with the way their bins are collected.”

What’s your experience with bin collections in Richmond? Let me know: grainne.cuffe@london.newsquest.co.uk