RESIDENTS across the borough say they are fed up because the new recycling lorries have been mixing up the items left out by housholders for collection and crushing them so that they cannot be sorted.

They say that in the past week, their carefully sorted paper, bottles and tins have been thrown together into an unmarked rubbish lorry.

The council has recently signed a contract handing over responsibility for waste collection to a company called Verdant, which claims it has a backlog of rubbish to deal with because of unusually high levels of recycling in the north of the borough.

One of many disgruntled residents to contact the Guardian was Brian Moon, of Ainsbury Drive, Chingford.

He said: "They say they are behind deadline, but it is all being crushed.

"How they are going to sort that? Crushed bottles and glass and cardboard and plastic."

Pat Terry, of Morgan Avenue, Walthamstow, said that she and her neighbours were very cross. "You might as well put it in ordinary bin if that is what they are going to do," she said.

A council spokesman said there had been a concerted effort "just to get the stuff off the streets" because there had been a backlog over the past few weeks.

He said it was only a temporary measure and it had happened in the north of the borough where there are higher than normal levels of recycling.

"All items left out for recycling are being collected for recycling.

"It is just in some cases the sorting is taking place at the MRF depot rather than in the street. This is a short-term measure to clear the backlog," he said.