Subscribers to Wirral Council's garden waste collection service, otherwise known as 'brown bin day', will be treated to an extra visit over the festive period.

Usually, the service would take a break of four weeks over Christmas and New Year.

But this year the break will be much shorter.

Brown bin collections will run until December 20 and restart on January 4, the first normal working day after the Christmas and New Year period.

This additional collection is to make sure that subscribers do not miss any collections that they have paid for following the missed collection in September.

Back then, Wirral's garden waste service was reduced to four-weekly instead of fortnightly.

Some subscribers thought they should get a refund as compensation for the missed collection.

But Wirral Council said the move was due to a national shortage of HGV drivers, as well as the ongoing effects of COVID-19, which has left its contractor, Biffa, with a lack of suitably licensed drivers to carry out collections.

By the way, subscribers with a real Christmas tree are asked to chop it up and put it into their brown bin when it is taken down.

Similarly, real wreaths can be put into garden waste bins, although these should be dismantled and any plastic removed beforehand.