Bin men in Allerdale will be trialling new social-distancing measures.

Allerdale council is taking over from FCC environment in delivering waste collection services in-house.

And in an effort to combat the spread of coronavirus and keep crews safe, They are trialling measures including asking one crew member to drive to a rendezvous point where they will meet the bin lorry, with two further staff onboard.

Last week Mike Johnson, leader of Allerdale council, and Workington MP Mark Jenkinson, hit out at FCC saying they were not following social-distancing measures.

The company rejected the claim and said social-distancing was respected where possible and staff had access to PPE and hand sanitiser.

Letters sent to bin men by Allerdale council, which have been seen by the News & Star, show that Allerdale initially wanted bin men to only work in pairs.

But this would have meant staff working longer hours to empty all the bins.

The council made a U-turn yesterday and told staff they would continue to work in crews of three where necessary.

A spokesman for Allerdale council said: "The first collections provided by Allerdale Waste Services start on Monday 6 April. A lot of planning has gone into the launch, and this has been informed by the recently received guidance on the issue from the Waste Industry Safety Forum (WISH) as well as from the government with regards to social distancing and keeping staff and residents protected as much as possible from infection from coronavirus.

"Having spoken to the crew members and considered the latest advice, Allerdale Waste Services are putting in some extra measures from Monday to help protect the team and maintain social distancing.

"One measure being trialled is designed to limit the number of crew members in a cab. This is achieved by the crew member driving to a rendezvous point where they will meet the bin lorry. Hand sanitisers, soap and water and other PPE equipment is also available for crews, and the need to maintain social distancing between themselves (where possible) and members of the public is also being stressed. Allerdale Waste Services has also provided guidance on what to do if a crew member is showing possible symptoms of coronavirus, and the bin wagon cabs will be routinely cleaned and wiped down following each days work.

"The decision to suspend garden waste collections was designed to introduce some capacity and flexibility into the services. This is being helped by a reduction in trade waste collections where businesses are closed. We are understandably having some difficultly in contacting our trade waste customers and therefore ask any business which does not currently need a trade waste collection to contact the council so that those crews can be used in other rounds.

We will continue to monitor and review the situation taking into account any local issues and national guidance.

"The waste crews are doing a fantastic job maintaining waste services as much as possible in these challenging times. We ask that the public help protect them in their work by cleaning their hands before and after they put the bins out for collection as well as keep the bin lids, handles, and boxes clean."

Mr Jenkinson said: "It took intervention from my office and the council before FCC started providing PPE and hand washing in the cab. I'm glad crews now have access to those, but disappointed we had to intervene."

Earlier this week Allerdale bin man Mike Harding posted a video on Facebook titled Stop the Spread, asking residents to clean their bins and any excess bags.

It received more than 94,000 views in less than 24 hours. In the video, he says: "At the end of the day I'm asking the public to help us to avoid us getting sick and get this job done.

"If you help us we can help you, nobody wants rubbish piled up in their gardens."