HOUSEHOLDERS in East Hampshire are still having major problems with the new system of refuse collection introduced by East Hampshire District Council, which is in its fourth week.
Many households are still complaining of missed collections - one even claiming she has had no collection since May 14.
Liphook resident Jeremy Austin-Olsen told The Herald he queued for nearly 45 minutes when he took his rubbish to the Hampshire County Council amenity site in Bordon on Sunday because his bins were overflowing.
"The traffic was chock-a-block from the amenity centre down to the traffic lights and big lorries, presumably bringing in new skips to cope with the demand, were having difficulty manoeuvring because of the size of the traffic jam.
"People who weren't heading for the tip were overtaking on the wrong side of the road and it was mayhem."
But district councillors are urging residents to persevere because they believe the system will work
The new alternate weekly collections are planned so that one week household refuse is collected, followed by the recyclables and garden refuse the next week.
A total of 19,000 households in Petersfield, Bramshott, Liphook, Whitehill, Bordon and Grayshott started AWC four weeks ago.
At the same time, a further 13,000 households still operating on the old refuse collection system were supposed to be given a new fixed day for collection.
At a meeting of EHDC's central area community committee on Tuesday, chairman Bob Ayer said officers were holding regular meeting with the managing director of collection contractors Onyx to ensure the company was acting to resolve outstanding problems.
"The majority of problems," he said, "stem from management changes made to refuse rounds in some parts of the district, particularly Liss, which have not yet switched to AWC."
He said there had also been problems caused by the slow delivery of recycling bins to some properties, but the majority had now been delivered.
He said Onyx had given assurances that the backlog of missed properties would be largely caught up by Wednesday this week.
"Where necessary, Onyx will shortly send a letter to residents explaining their correct day and week for collection with an apology.
"Onyx have also agreed to take out advertisements in the local press apologising to our residents and explaining the steps taken to resolve the problems."
Judy Onslowsaid the poor start to the new system was very disappointing for the team at EHDC, where officers had worked hard to get it off the ground.
"It could have been a lot smoother," she added. "Everyone has been working so very hard around the clock to do something we know will work."
The problems had been caused by Onyx, she stressed.
A wheelie bin for recyclable refuse was stolen from Church Fields, Headley, some time last week.