UPDATE: SHDC says bottle banks in the South Hams will be empties by the weekendSOUTH Hams Council have said they are ‘working hard’ to deal with the ‘sudden backlog’ of overflowing bottle bins as reports come in from across the South Hams.

Jackie Langman took a photo of the bottles surrounding the bottle bins in the Cattle Market car park in Kingsbridge and when we posted it on social media, people commented that there was a similar situations in other towns and villages across the South Hams.

Andrea Marlow said: ‘Had a similar problem at the bottle bank at Malborough a couple of weeks ago, saw some council employees removing the over flow in to a van, only for it to be the same the next day!’

Caryn Moore said: ‘I went to Malborough on Saturday bottle bank full and loads of boxes full of bottles by the side of it. Went to Cattle Market one on Sunday and it was like this. Ended up going to Torr Quarry and the brown bottle bit was almost full!!!!’

Other people mentioned Slapton, Stokely, Salcombe and Loddiswell as being in similar situations recently.

A spokesman for South Hams District Council said: ‘We are delighted that so many residents are recycling their glass, however, we are experiencing a very high demand on bottle banks this summer, coupled with a difficulty in sourcing additional contractors to help us reduce the demand.

‘We are working hard to deal with this sudden backlog and we will make sure that the banks are being emptied as soon as it is possible for us to do so. We will also ensure that the areas around the recycling banks are cleaned.

‘We would like to apologise for this short fall in the service, but would like to reassure residents that we are working to address the problem.

‘If residents should find that a bank is full please report it to us at http://www.southhams.gov.uk/article/11703/Report-an-Issue-with-a-Recycling-Bank and we will make sure that it is emptied as soon as we can.’