A lack of drivers could see problems with local bin collections in the North West “last up to and beyond December”.
After rural resident Lesley Ham – who lives near Whitworth Rake in Rochdale – claimed her monthly recycling collections have been cancelled due to the shortage, she told LancsLive that Rossendale Borough Council informed her that the service had been “suspended”.
And when approached about the delays, a council spokesperson said the national shortage of Large Goods Vehicle Drivers (LGV) across the country is the reason.
The shortage is said to be having a “major impact” on bin collections.
The council spokesperson even added that the council is prioritising general refuse collection over other services such as bulky waste collections, and that these difficulties could continue up to and beyond December.
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Although Lesley did say that her rubbish was eventually collected by a special collection last Friday after contacting the council, she added that she was still unsure about the future of the collections and was advised on three separate occasions her bin collection has been “suspended indefinitely”.
The national shortage of Large Goods Vehicle Drivers (LGV) is having a “major impact” on bin collections / Credit: Geograph
Lesley continued: “For our rural properties, they only collect the recycling once a month and because of where we are with foxes and badgers, you can’t leave rubbish out [but] by Tuesday afternoon, it had already been got at so the rubbish is just then strewn down the track.
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“That’s why I rang and they said they had a driver shortage and then I was told it was suspended on Thursday.
“There must be some forward planning of the situation?”
Rossendale Borough Council said they were adapting collection rounds and reallocating staff where they can, and in some cases, were working at the weekends to collect missed bins.
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“Is it rural properties they’re targeting because it takes a bit longer?” Lesley questioned.
“We’ve already gone a month and it’s going into five weeks, but if next month we haven’t got a recycling collection again, we’ll have another month of waste.”
Local bin collection difficulties could potentially continue “up to and beyond December” / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Addressing the concerns over bin collections, a spokesperson for Rossendale Borough Council said: “As has been reported nationally there is a shortage of Large Goods Vehicle Drivers (LGV) across the country which is affecting deliveries to supermarkets, restaurants and other retail outlets.
“This shortage is also having a major impact on refuse collection services for us and many other councils, as qualified LGV drivers are also needed to drive refuse trucks.
“We are doing our best to empty all bins as scheduled by adapting collection rounds and reallocating staff where we can [and] where possible, we are also working at weekends to collect missed bins – but these difficulties are likely to continue up to and beyond December.”
Featured Image – Geograph
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New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
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Former GMP officer jailed after being found guilty of several online child sex offences
Emily Sergeant
A former police officer from Salford has been sentenced after being found guilty of a string of online child sex offences.
Following a trial back in July, 35-year-old Michael Aspinall was sentenced at Preston Crown Court earlier this week (Monday 14 September) after being found guilty of three counts of attempting sexual communication with a child.
It comes after Aspinall – who was employed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) at the time of the offences – was arrested in October 2024 by detectives from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), and was immediately suspended from duty following his arrest.
The investigation began after evidence was obtained that Aspinall had been communicating online with individuals that he believed to be children, but he was in fact communicating with a police officer.
Following this series of interactions, he was charged with various offences.
In addition to his eight-month sentence – which has been suspended for two years – Aspinall will also be placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years, subject to a five-year serious crime prevention order, and have undertake 20 days of rehabilitation, GMP has confirmed.
He has additionally been added to the College of Policing’s barred list.
An application to request forfeiture of Aspinall’s police pension has also been made to the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester.
“Aspinall’s offending was clearly unacceptable for any right-minded member of society and particularly inappropriate for a serving police officer,” commented Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Humphreys, from GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate.
“His actions put the whole police service under scrutiny, but thanks to the hard work and diligence of undercover officers, he was arrested, found guilty, and has now received his punishment.”
DCI Humphreys concluded: “[Aspinall’s] actions take away from the hard work of the men and women who work so hard for their communities every day, and it is only right that anyone committing these sort of offences are rooted out.”
The Manc -
3rd September 2021 
