MINIBUSES hired to transport binmen in a bid to comply with coronavirus guidelines has cost the council more than £400,000, the Glasgow Times can reveal.

Safety restrictions mean an entire crew cannot travel together in a bin lorry - with only two people allowed inside at any one time and a waste collection team typically operating between four to six people.

The limitation means Glasgow City Council has been forced to come up with alternatives to ensure refuse services have been maintained throughout the pandemic.

The local authority opted to hire minibuses which have ferried staff members around to ensure social distancing measures were maintained.

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However, the additional vehicles have come at a cost of £403,586.76 since they were first introduced in August 2020.

The buses were also used for workers carrying out streetscene duties.

Costs started off at £11,145.11 in August last year, before going on to peak at £69,291.51 in January.

Since the beginning of 2021, the figures have steadily declined with the most recent data from last month revealing a cost of £14,997.78.

It is not known how many minibuses have been hired or how long the council plan to use the vehicles.

Prior to August 2020, a correspondence between council officers and elected members showed the local authority’s “current fleet vehicles” - understood to be buses used for the city’s ASL schools, which were available at the time - were also used.

Critics in the Labour group have questioned if a cheaper alternative could have been found, adding that the cost is “yet another surprising financial implication brought about by Covid-19”.

A spokesman for the council said: “The law, industry standards and absolutely all expert health and safety advice made it clear that crew couldn’t safely share the relatively small space in vehicle cabs during their working day.

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“Using additional vehicles has been completely necessary. It is a temporary solution that has been employed by the vast majority of councils to ensure disruption to cleansing services has been minimised as far as possible.

“Absolutely, that has been expensive, but protecting the health and safety of staff has been absolute priority of staff throughout the pandemic.”