RESIDENTS who usually have refuse collections on Wednesdays will have to stack up their rubbish for an extra week due to next week's strike by council workers.

Swindon Council has decided that household collections will not take place at all next Wednesday and no steps will be taken to offer the service on an alternative day.

Instead, residents in the affected areas will have to wait until the following Wednesday, July 24, before their rubbish is taken away.

The move has been prompted by industrial action against low pay being taken by the three public service unions, Unison, GMB and TGWU. The council will announce on Monday how it will manage the impact of the strike in other service areas and whether it will close schools, libraries and leisure centres.

The council's senior officers are still holding emergency meetings to decide how best to handle the day, which will see thousands of workers stage a one-day walk out.

Council spokesman Adrian Ruck said: "Residents who usually have their rubbish collected on this day should not put out their rubbish for collection.

"This includes kerbside collection of paper and cans for recycling. All refuse should be put out for a double collection on July 24.

"All other refuse collections next week will take place."

He said the household waste recycling centre at Barnfield Road will be open on Wednesday, but with a reduced number of staff on duty. It will be open from 8am to 6.30pm on all other days.

The council has 8,000 employees, and although not all of them will be on strike, it is clear that the impact on some frontline services will be heavy.

The workers are among 1.2 million council staff across the UK who are taking the industrial action following ballots by the three unions, which have rejected the Government's three per cent pay offer. They are seeking a six per cent or £1,750 pay rise for all council workers, whichever is the larger.

A number of Swindon Council services are exempt from the strike, including home care, residential care and the Swindon Services emergency call out team.

Who will be affected?

Areas that normally receive refuse collections on Wednesdays are:

Parts of Old Town, Rodbourne Cheney, Highworth, Blunsdon, Stratton, Meadowcroft, West Swindon, Wroughton, Chiseldon, Eldene, Moredon, Park South, Lawns and Walcot