KEY workers across Bury are going above and beyond during the coronavirus lockdown to save lives, ensure people safe and happy, and keep the borough clean.

Among them are Bury's hard-working binmen, who have put in a herculean effort to collect more domestic waste than ever before.

In the last month some 6,708 tonnes of waste have been collected by the borough's refuse teams ­— equivalent to more than 1,000 double decker busses.

To manage this they have had to contend with household waste increasing by 26 per cent, compared to the same month last year.

Tonnages across the four household waste streams have jumped.

Although the biggest increase has been in the Brown food and garden waste bins ­— which is up by almost 40 per cent, or 2,342 tonnes.

Paying tribute to the borough's refuse collectors, Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, said: “Our binmen have done a fantastic job during this crisis, especially as more rubbish is being generated by people being at home for longer as workplaces and schools have been closed or restricted.

“We have kept all four household bin collections going, despite our staff being affected by the same health risks and lockdown rules as everyone else, and have retrained council staff from other departments to bolster the service.

“Like all those who are providing the frontline services people need at this time, they deserve a huge thanks.

"Please remember to recycle all you can and if you do have to use our Household Waste Recycling Centres then please make sure to visit the website first: https://recycleforgreatermanchester.com.”

For information about bin collections in Bury, and to sign up for email reminders of collection days, visit bury.gov.uk/recycling.