WINCHESTER civic chiefs say they have learned from the recent disastrous performance of its waste collection.

For weeks last autumn there were complaints about missed collections, the introduction of a new glass kerbside collection and the non-delivery of a collection calendar.

The city council last October had seen the end of its joint contract with East Hampshire District Council.

It meant that collection rounds had to be re-jigged leading to problems for the Biffa workers, compounded by the late delivery of the calendars to alert householders to the changes.

Southern Internal Audit Partnership have undertake a review of the project to determine why the calendars were delivered late and how best to make sure it doesn't happen again.

One lesson is that there not to the right software to handle the situation.

Corporate director Steve Tilbury said the council and Biffa worked together well to resolve the problems "rather than standing around wagging their fingers at each other."

Cllr Hugh Lumby said: "Something didn't go right and it is really important that we learn the lessons so we run things as well as we possibly can."

He said there was "the human element. It is clear some people did not do what they should have done," adding that one problem was the need to clarify a deadline with the printers of the calendar was not made clear enough.

Biffa has since been awarded an eight-year contract.