Irresponsible drivers are being blamed for hundreds of bin collections being missed.

A call has now been made to residents to keep roads clear of parked cars on collection days, as Copeland Council reveals it has missed about 200 bins over the past two months because of the recurring problem.

The authority has even listed the hotspot areas where they constantly struggle to manoeuvre the large vehicle: these are streets at Mirehouse, Parton, Bransty, Lowca, St Bees and Cleator Moor.

However, many residents are annoyed with the council's plea, saying their collections are regularly missed through no fault of their own.

Carl Walmsley, of the Mirehouse Matters group, said he understands the frustration of both the residents and bin wagon operatives, saying its down to a "sheer parking problem" as many people have two or three cars.

Simon Williamson, who lives at Mirehouse, said: "Where on earth are we supposed to park our cars if we can't park outside of our homes as they block the road?"

A St Bees resident said the road is always gridlocked on Main Street on collection days, as the wagon comes at peak times when hundreds of Sellafield workers and school children are on the roads.

"That's probably why it can't get to people's houses, because there's so much traffic using the village as a rat run," she said. "A lot of people living in St Bees don't have driveways or garages so have nowhere else to park their cars."

The council's policy is to return a second time if it is unable to access the area, but on a number of occasions the teams are still unable to get to the bins.

Councillor Mark Holliday, who is responsible for the council's waste, said it was "incredibly frustrating" for the crews if they were unable to access streets.

"A number of our older estates weren't built for the size or number of cars or modern day vehicles and navigation can be a real problem in some areas," he said.

"We're therefore urging householders, on collection days, to park their cars in their garages or on their drives if they have them, or tightly to the kerb with wing mirrors tucked in."

He added that the safety of crews have to be considered.

"When our route is blocked by cars, it isn't an option for us to have collectors walk back and forth long distances dragging bins from the homes that the vehicles can't get to," he explained.

"The cost of repeat visits due to a missed bin is high – in fuel and staffing costs – which ultimately impacts the taxpayer.

"Any assistance residents could offer to reduce the number of repeat visits would be greatly appreciated."

However, Emma Close said the crew constantly fails to collect the black bin from her boyfriend's mum's house at the junction of Jacktrees Road in Cleator Moor – and there is no problem with access as the homes all have driveways.

"They never forget the brown bin, it's always the black one," she said. "They go up Cleator and it's like they can't be bothered with the small few houses up Jacktrees Road.

"My boyfriend's mam has to take the bin across the road so it's with the other bins."

Mr Holliday added that the council's collection rate was "excellent", with over 99 per cent of all collections on the day planned during 2016/17 for around two-and-a-half million collections.