Cuts have been made to waste collections in South Gloucestershire amid the coronavirus pandemic.

While black bins, clinical waste and sharps will all be collected as normal, recycling and food waste will now only be collected every two weeks, and garden waste and bulky waste collections have temporarily been suspended.

From March 30 recycling and food waste collections will be made on the same day as current black bin collections.

All council Sort It centres have also been closed.

Cabinet member for communities, Cllr Rachael Hunt said: “This is a challenging period but household waste is an essential service and we are doing all we can to ensure we continue to collect everyone’s waste and recycling during the Coronavirus outbreak.

“We are making temporary changes to the way we collect your waste and are introducing measures to make sure we are prepared, ready and can keep delivering essential services for our residents. We will be constantly reviewing the situation, providing regular updates and we thank people for their understanding.”

Full details of the temporary changes are listed below:

From Tuesday, March 24

• All Sort It recycling centres are closed until further notice

• Garden waste renewals and new subscriptions to this service are suspended

• Garden waste collections will continue until Friday, March 27 and then stop from Monday 30 March, until further notice, so we can focus on collecting black bin waste and recycling.

From Monday, March 30

• There are no changes to black bin, clinical waste and sharps collections

• Garden waste collections will be suspended until further notice

• Recycling collections will change from weekly to every two weeks and will be on the same day as your black bin

• Food waste will also be collected every two weeks on the same day as your black bin (please continue to put food waste in your food caddy)

• Bulky waste collections will be suspended until further notice

• Waste and recycling collections from properties with communal bins will carry on as normal.

If you are self-isolating because you or a member of your household has coronavirus, put personal waste such as used tissues and disposable cleaning cloths in bin bags. These bags should be placed into another bag, tied securely and kept separate from other waste. This should be put aside for at least 72 hours before being put in your usual external household waste bin. All other household waste can be disposed of as normal.