Vehicle breakdowns and staff problems meant Brent Council suffered “severe bin collection issues” over the summer and easily missed its performance target.

A cabinet report showed that around 43 bins per 100,000 collections were missed during the second quarter of the council year.

This was more than double the period’s target of 20 while there were an additional 31 bins per 100,000 missed when compared to the previous quarter.

The council said this represented “high levels” of missed bin collections and it attributed the downturn to broken down vehicles and issues surrounding the number of HGV drivers available.

In the report it explained that its contractor Veolia “put measures in place” to address the problems.

This included hiring additional vehicles to sure up its fleet and a push to employ more permanent drivers.

Cllr Krupa Sheth, responsible for the environment at Brent Council, said: “The number of missed bin collections in late July and early August was completely unacceptable and residents were understandably frustrated.

"At the time, we held urgent talks with Veolia to understand what went wrong and to make sure that they put the situation right as soon as possible.

"I’m pleased that the issues were resolved quickly and reports since have shown that the service is running as it should be for residents. New measures have also been put in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen again."

According to the council, this strategy has seen “positive results” and the number of missed collections at the end of the quarter were back to normal.

While the number of missed bin collections for quarter two received a ‘red’ rating in the council’s latest performance scorecard, it did well in other areas aimed at creating a “cleaner, more considerate Brent”.

The average time taken to remove illegally dumped waste was below the target – standing at one day – as was the amount of rubbish removed from each household.