The chair of Barnet Council’s environment committee faced calls to resign last night as disruption to bin collections continued in the run-up to Christmas.

Labour councillors called on Cllr Dean Cohen to step down after a major shake-up of the refuse service left some residents complaining they had not had their rubbish collected for six weeks.

Cllr Cohen apologised for the disruption and claimed the service was seeing “significant improvements on a weekly basis”.

But when he was pressed on whether bin rounds would run properly over Christmas, the environment committee chair did not give a firm answer.

The council made sweeping reforms to waste collection service on November 4 in a bid to improve its efficiency and save £750,000 a year.

It says the shake-up was needed due to the borough’s rapid population growth and the switch to a new waste depot.

But residents have complained of missed collections week after week, and rubbish piling up in unemptied bins has sparked health and safety fears.

Speaking at a full council meeting yesterday (Tuesday, December 18), Labour’s environment spokesman Cllr Alan Schneiderman said the waste service had become “a total and utter shambles”.

He said: “Rubbish is mounting up and there is no sign of when the service will return to normal.

“Now, rather than weekly collections, the Tories have introduced a new concept – random bin collections.

“You don’t know if your bin is going to be collected, and you certainly don’t know when it is going to be collected.

“And if you get caught out, you have to run down the street in your pyjamas putting out your bins when you see the bin lorry coming along.”

Cllr Schneiderman also attacked the Conservatives for stopping separate food waste collections and proposing a £50 charge for garden waste collections.

He claimed the council’s stance was now at odds with government policy following the launch of a waste plan stating that councils should have a separate food waste collection.

Cllr Schneiderman said: “Councillor Cohen needs to take responsibility and resign from his position as chair of the environment committee. Residents deserve better.”

Cllr Cohen said: “I would like to reiterate my apology to all residents who have been inconvenienced by the reorganisation.

“This is one service that everyone in the borough receives, and residents expect the service to be efficient and reliable.”

The environment committee chair pointed out that five Labour-run councils in north London had made the switch to fortnightly collections or were considering doing so.

He said: “Our pledge was to keep bin collections weekly – and that is exactly what we are doing.

“This is what our residents want, and this is what they deserve.

“The data show that significant improvements have been made over the past ten days.”

Labour councillors Sarah Conway and Jo Cooper also called on the environment chair to resign.

Cllr Cooper said residents had been left with “Barnet refuse roulette” as they did not know which of their bins would be collected on which day.

She said: “A grovelling apology is not enough. The lead member responsible should resign and the council must take stock, re-think and give residents the refuse and recycling service they deserve.”

Barnet Council leader Cllr Richard Cornelius praised Cllr Cohen for “all the work he has put in in trying to put this right”.

He thanked all members of staff in the waste collection service and reiterated an apology to residents for the disruption they faced.

Cllr Cornelius said: “This system will be put right, quickly.

“I would like to wish you a happy Christmas and a happy new year, when bins are collected on their proper days, as we all want.”

Earlier on in the meeting, at question time, Cllr Arjun Mittra, Labour member for East Finchley, asked Cllr Cohen if the refuse service would be working properly over Christmas.

Cllr Cohen answered that it was “continuing to improve on a weekly basis”.

Cllr Schneiderman asked the environment chair when the service would return to normal but was not given a firm answer.

The council’s strategic director of environment previously stated that the problems with the service would be ironed out “after Christmas”.

Cllr Schneiderman’s motion calling on Cllr Cohen to resign was voted down by Conservative members of the council.

Instead, an amended motion by Cllr Cohen apologising to residents and thanking staff was carried.