Kent’s bin collection crisis could be set to worsen with disgruntled workers balloting on whether to go out on strike.

Since March, waste firm Suez has come under constant fire for its inability to handle collections across Swale, Ashford and Maidstone.

Residents have told how they have sometimes waited weeks and months for their rubbish to be taken away.

Now it has been revealed that on Monday the GMB union is to ballot its members who work for Suez in Swale and Ashford.

This is because it says they earn less than the company’s employees in Maidstone who are doing the same work.

For example, loaders there are on £13 per hour and drivers £17, while in Swale and Ashford, staff receive £12 and £15 respectively.

News of the strike vote came during a heated Swale council meeting on Wednesday evening where it was also revealed up until July 2, there had been 36,468 reports of missed collections since Suez took over.

The company has been beset with problems since it started the £152 million Mid-Kent Waste Partnership contract on March 25.

Bosses have continually promised to “improve reliability and provide a more efficient service” for the 460,000 residents it serves.

However, following the end of a three-month grace period on June 25, it is understood the firm has had to pay “punishment” fines to the councils concerned for lack of service delivery.

Details of the cost and frequency of these have not been divulged for “commercially sensitive” reasons.

At the council meeting, councillors discussed ongoing issues and highlighted how further problems are on the horizon.

Queenborough and Halfway ward councillor Mike Whiting (Con) called the situation a “fiasco”.

He said he’d spoken to one resident “who waited over three months for his bins to be collected” while people are still contacting him after waiting weeks for clearances.

He added at one point in April, he had a rate of one complaint per minute.

Cllr Ashley Shiel (Lab), who represents the same ward, pointed out that of the 1,259 collections undertaken since March, only 402 had been 100% completed – just one in three.

He added that there had been 47 incidents of new lorries - specifically purchased for the contract - breaking down while out on their rounds.

And he’d heard from Suez workers who were being abused by members of the public - often when they weren’t even at work.

Cllr James Hunt (Con), who represents the Meads ward in Sittingbourne, raised the strike issue, saying it was “majorly concerning”, especially amid rumours Suez is already £600,000 over budget for the contract.

Swale council leader Cllr Tim Gibson (Lab) apologised for the situation, saying: “I would like to issue, and not for the first time, a sincere apology to all of our residents who have a less than acceptable service.

“Frankly there have been far more issues than any of us anticipated and it’s our intention that we put it right.

“We are and always have been fully committed to the security of the contract.”

Cllr Mike Baldock (Swale Inds), who represents Borden and Grove Park and is vice-chairman of the council, added the whole authority needs to “face up to” where it has “failed”.

Formerly, bins were collected by waste firm Biffa but that arrangement came to an end last October after 10 years.

The eight-year contract was put out to tender but only Suez bid for it.

Both companies took part in the initial diascussions around the new contract, with Biffa withdrawing at the final stages.

Again Swale council could not provide any further information about this “due to it being commercially sensitive”.

Suez confirmed it was aware of the strike ballot but did not wish to comment further on it.

Its general manager Vincent Masseri previously said: “While there have been steady improvements to the new waste contract in Mid-Kent over recent weeks, we apologise that some residents are still experiencing missed collections.

“With the new service in Mid-Kent impacting almost 200,000 properties and resulting in more than 80,000-day changes for resident bin collections locally, we always expected there to be challenges as our crews get used to new routes, trucks and technology.

“From previous experience serving millions of householders throughout the country, we know how to address these problems and are actively making improvements to address collections that are currently being missed and prevent them from happening in the future.

“This includes the continual deployment of additional resources and ongoing rerouting improvements.

“We thank residents and local councillors for bearing with us while we aim to maximise collection rates and are confident that our measures will maintain the positive trend towards a more efficient and reliable service.”

The council meeting also heard how since March, there had been almost 500,000 visits from the public to the online bin day look-up tool.

Previously, Sarah Barnes, who lives in the Grove Park area of Sittingbourne, told how she feared for her pregnant daughter’s safety because of mounting rubbish outside her home.

Molly, 25, lives in a flat in the town and had only the second collection of her bins on Saturday, July 20.

Sarah, 52, said on Thursday (July 25) how she was not surprised by the number of incidents of workers not taking the rubbish away.

The bookkeeper said: “It is believable. On social media people are complaining all the time about missed bins and I reckon some people don’t even bother to report it to the council.

“I will be keeping my fingers crossed that my bins are going to be collected every week but the problems will continue because the service Suez has provided so far has been useless.

“It should have been sorted months ago. It is quite sad that we are all hoping for our bins to be collected every week.”