EAST Devon District Council has issued a clarification following confusion over refuse collection days.

EAST Devon District Council has issued a clarification following confusion over refuse collection days.

A decision to revert to normal collection dates and abandon the Christmas schedule was made in light of recent weather conditions, which played havoc with refuse and recycling collections over the Christmas and New Year period.

A council spokesperson said: "The change, which was carefully considered by Councillor David Cox, East Devon District Council's Portfolio Holder for StreetScene, Rik Aldridge from SITA and Paul Deakin, EDDC's Waste and Recycling Manager, was made with the aim of restoring as normal a service as quickly as possible in difficult circumstances.

"Notices were placed on the council's website and EDDC's press office contacted all the local newspapers and radio stations asking for their help in getting the message to as wide an audience as possible.

"We appreciate that a number of residents were unaware of the change and, for this, we apologise. To notify each household individually was impractical and would have been prohibitively expensive.

"The council and its contractors are doing everything they can to resume normal service and we hope that residents will bear with us in what are exceptional circumstances.