Waste collections will take place on Bank Holiday Monday 1 May, as part of special arrangements for the coronation period.

This is thought to be the first time Somerset crews have collected on a Bank Holiday, in a move to accommodate the extra scheduled day off for the coronation of King Charles III.

The additional Bank Holiday on Monday 8 May means Somerset Council and its waste collection contractor SUEZ have two consecutive Bank Holiday weekends to cope with.

If your recycling and/or refuse is usually collected on a Monday, that will be the case on Monday 1 May. Collections will be on normal scheduled days for the rest of that week. Working the bank holiday Monday will mean that crews will not have to work Saturday 6 May.

There will be no collections on Bank Holiday Monday 8 May and collections will be one day later for the rest of that week. That includes collections that would usually take place on Friday 12 May taking place on Saturday 13 May.

These arrangements will avoid crews having to work back-to-back Saturdays, and gives them the chance to get involved in celebrations over the special Bank Holiday weekend.

All 16 recycling sites will be open as usual at weekends, 9am to 4pm. And, if opening Mondays is part of their normal opening pattern, they will be open on both Bank Holiday Mondays (1 May and 8 May), from 9am to 6pm.

Councillor Sarah Dyke, Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “The extra Bank Holiday is great news for everyone wanting to celebrate the coronation celebrations and we want to be fair to the hard-working crews.

“But a Bank Holiday Monday collection is a change from the norm so please make sure you are up to speed on when the crews will be arriving.”

Cllr Dyke also encouraged revellers to celebrate without creating unnecessary waste.

She said: “We’re committed to a greener, more sustainable Somerset and would ask everyone attending or hosting a coronation celebration to do their best to recycle everything they can, but better still avoid creating the waste in the first place.

“Recycling is great, but reducing and reusing is even better and there are lots of ways you can enjoy the big day while keeping waste down.”

You can find tips and ideas – from avoiding single-use items to cutting out food waste and making your own bunting – on the Somerset Council website,.

As always, the responsibility for disposing of waste sits with the event organiser.

Commercial and large events may need to organise and pay for a commercial collection.

Organisers of non-commercial and smaller community events should ensure recycling and waste is collected and disposed of properly, through recycling sites or through kerbside collections for smaller amounts, perhaps splitting it over a couple of weeks.

House and garden party organisers should ensure it is collected through kerbside collections, perhaps split over a couple of weeks, or taken to a recycling site.

Squashing, crushing and flattening your recycling is always a big help to crews.

It means more material can fit into the trucks, which means fewer trips to unload – saving time and helping avoid missed collections, as well as cutting down on mileage and carbon emissions.