An incorrect letter has been sent to hundreds of households giving residents the wrong date of their new bin day.

Around 1,500 homes in Teynham and Bapchild, near Sittingbourne, and Sheldwich and Selling, near Faversham, received the notification from Swale council on Monday (November 25).

It said the changeover from a Monday collection to a Tuesday pick-up would take place the same day as the letter was sent.

This would leave people waiting until Tuesday, December 10 for their bins to be emptied – just over two weeks.

However, the letter, sent on behalf of waste contractor Suez Recycling and Recovery, was not correct.

In the note, the council said the reason behind the change is to improve the waste service.

Suez had planned the additional change on Monday but pushed back the request to Monday, December 2 – which is the actual date of the changeover.

The firm took on the eight-year and £152 million Mid-Kent Waste Partnership contract in March. It serves some 460,000 residents across Swale, Maidstone and Ashford.

It has come under fire during its tenure after weeks of bin chaos that saw more than 36,400 reports of missed collections across the Borough from when it took over up to July 2.

Following the end of a three-month grace period on June 25, it is understood Suez has had to pay “punishment” fines to the councils concerned.

There were also fears matters were set to be made worse by a bin worker strike by members of the GMB union over pay disparity.

But a new pay offer from the company saw workers ballot against taking industrial action.

A council investigation into what went wrong is still ongoing.

Suez made changes to the bin days of 9,300 households in September in a bid to improve the service.

Cllr Rich Lehmann (Green), who chairs the council’s environment and climate change committee, apologised for the mistake via a post on social media.

He said: “Unfortunately a couple of the dates on the letter are not correct and have understandably led to confusion.

“This week's collections will take place on the same day they have since mid-September, and from next week they'll move to their new and hopefully permanent day.

“I am very sorry for any confusion and inconvenience this error has caused.”

KentOnline has approached Swale council for further information and comment.