Bin collections could suffer a Christmas crisis as drivers go for better pay in the food industry, it has been claimed.
Services in over half the councils in England and Wales are already disrupted by staff shortages, figures from the Local Government Association show.
Simon Ellin of the Recycling Association said: “If you’re a driver you can go to the highest bidder and that is often the supermarket hauliers.”
A council in Lancashire says it lost almost half its drivers in the last three months and problems are also reported in Devon, London and Peterborough.
Bin lorry drivers on about £25,000 a year can boost their salaries by over 60% by driving for supermarkets, food hauliers or online retailers, an investigation by The Observer revealed.
Jacob Hayler of the Environmental Services Association said the vacancy rate was about 15%.
He said services “will only come under greater pressure as we near Christmas, when waste volumes typically rise by 30%.”
The Government said it had upped capacity for HGV tests.