RUBBISH bags will be left on the roadside in Basildon tomorrow as collections are cancelled because of the strikes.

Residents may be left living with a stink for the next week, as council chiefs say they won’t be able to arrange extra collections to make up for the disruption.

Bob Warner, 68, of Chenies Drive, Steeple View, Basildon, is against the action.

He said: “No way they should be striking. Everyone should go to work each day. It’s going to be a right pain.”

A spokesman for Basildon Council said: “Due to the industrial action it is possible some council services will be affected.

“While we will do our best to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum, delivery of some services on the day such as refuse collection may simply not be possible.

“In most cases we will not know with certainty which services will be affected until the day of the strike, but as soon as we have any information it will be posted on the council’s website and distributed to the local media.

“In particular, if your bins are not collected please take them back inside your property and keep them for collection on the same day the following week.”

Malcolm Buckley, councillor responsible for the environment at Basildon Council, added: “There’s no way we could just pick up the uncollected rubbish the following day.

“It would mean everyone else’s rounds are disrupted and we would have to pay out a lot of money and have people working through the night.”

Southend, Rochford and Castle Point collections will be unaffected.

Neil Prior at Cory Environmental, which empties bins in Southend, said: “We do not expect our services to be affected by industrial action.”