A WARRINGTON MP has slammed local Labour councillors over their handling of recent bin strikes.

Andy Carter, Conservative MP for Warrington South, says that bin strikes were allowed to continue for 10 weeks due to a lack of council leadership.

He says this was in part due to the Labour councillors - who hold a majority on the council - having to elect a new leader and deputy leader of the council.

Bin strikes began at the start of October, and were due to continue until Christmas Eve, but Warrington Borough Council has reached an agreement with striking members of the Unite trade union.

This comes after the council's bid for an injunction to block further strike action was struck down at the Royal Courts of Justice in London last week.

It is believed that the legal action cost the council something in the region of £50,000.

Responding to the news that the strike action has been halted, Andy Carter MP said: “I welcome this positive development, as I said earlier in the week in Parliament, it needed everyone round the table to work to find a solution.

"It strikes me we’ve had 10 weeks of disruption because there has been a vacuum of political leadership at the Town Hall while Labour has been sorting out who should run the council.

“It’s now important we get a regular collection service back to normal as quickly as possible to address the mess on streets across the borough.”