A CITY councillor is pushing for answers over rubbish that has piled up in streets since heavy snow hit two weeks ago.

Bin collectors couldn’t get to several streets around York when the “Beast from the East” hit. Now Clifton councillor Danny Myers is asking for answers on what happens when rubbish isn’t collected on schedule.

The Labour councillor said he asked about missing bin collections back in October, to be told staff would go back to collect waste “as soon as possible”, but only if a whole street had been missed. Now he has been told streets with wheelie bins will actually have to wait another fortnight – making it a month between collections.

Cllr Myers added: “It’s quite understandable that residents are up in arms about not receiving waste collections, particularly as it’s one of very few frontline services everyone expects to receive.”

The councillor praised frontline staff for doing a “great job” in poor weather, but said the issue of “catch-up” collections is not clear enough. Council bosses need to be honest about what residents can expect, he said.

A council spokesman has said the “catch-up” policy hasn’t changed, but that in very bad weather next day collections might not be possible.

Assistant director for environment James Gilchrist said homes with black bin bags had to be a priority for catch-up collections – to stop rubbish spilling out on the the streets. He said: “I would like to thank residents for bearing with us. The weather obviously presented a real challenge, and is one of those occasions where we are unable to collect missed bins the following day.”