Residents are being asked to help ease the pressure on recycling collections this Friday (February 25) as services bounce back from Storm Eunice.

All waste collections were suspended last Friday because of storm Eunice and crews from SUEZ were able to catch-up the 17,000 missed rubbish collections by working on Saturday.

But they are facing a "double-whammy" this Friday when they return for the missed recycling - effectively collecting two weeks’ worth of material.

Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) is asking those with recycling collections due this Friday to help by not overloading collections, especially with bulky cardboard.

They are urged to make use of recycling centres or hold on to some recycling to give crews the best chance of coping with the extra-large loads.

Any recycling missed on Friday will be returned for on Saturday (26 February).

As well as the day job, at the beginning of the week hard-working staff were helping keep an eye out for vulnerable residents hit by the storm, especially in isolated areas hit by power cuts.

They were tasked with looking out for potentially vulnerable residents who may be struggling - for example if an assisted collection customer has not put out their waste - and pass information on for support services like adult social care to follow-up.

"Storm Eunice has been difficult for everyone," said Mickey Green, SWP Managing Director.

"Crews have worked really hard to catch-up as well as responding to the Civil Contingencies call to be an extra pair of eyes looking out for the vulnerable.

"We’ve weathered most of the storm but a little extra help to make the double collections this Friday more manageable this week would be much appreciated".

Around 25,000 homes in Somerset were without power last Friday. Around 50,000 recycling collections were suspended until this Friday.

For the latest information about collections and site opening, please visit somersetwaste.gov.uk and follow @somersetwaste on Facebook and Twitter.