Sweeping bin changes across north Norfolk have suffered some 'pockets' of problems but went 'relatively smoothly' say officials.

Some bins went uncollected for a day, and some people were confused about the new arrangements, which started last week.

But the wrinkles should be ironed out of the dozen household collections rounds by the end of this week householders have been reassured.

About 45,000 homes across the district people are facing switches in when their bin is collected, and which one, under new operators Kier.

North Norfolk District Council's environmental services manager Richard Garfield said there had been some pockets of missed collections mainly in the eastern area - including some homes in Southrepps and Antingham.

But collections had been cleared up the next day and overall the first week had gone 'relatively smoothly.'

They had tried to keep crews on the same areas as before, but some had been tackling new patches and some remote properties had been missed because crews were 'up against it' learning new rounds in the first week.

'Because of the scale of the changes and the rurality of the area it is inevitable there will be some issues with the rounds,' said Mr Garfield.

Some householders had been confused by the council leaflet about the changes, while others had not received it at all.

The Kier switchboard at its Aylsham depot had been engaged or on answer machine dealing with the volume of calls, and some people who were 'not very happy' then called the council which passed on the messages, he added.

By Saturday everything had caught up, and he hoped that by the end of the second week everyone would have

experienced and understood the full changes.

Antingham councillor Graham Jones, whose bin went uncollected, said: 'This chaos is ridiculous. It should have been planned properly.'

Council cabinet member for environmental services John Lee said he was aware of 'teething problems in some places' but was happy overall with the way things were going.