RESIDENTS of Northwich and Winsford are being thanked for their ongoing cooperation during the coronavirus pandemic.

Many services from Cheshire West and Chester council have been postponed in the past two weeks – with community centres, libraries and play areas all closed to ensure the Government's social distancing guidance is observed and depleted staff numbers can be redeployed to essential services.

Household waste and recycling centres have also closed, while the green waste collection service has been suspended, so that the council's reduced workforce can focus on domestic waste and recycling collections.

But Cllr Louise Gittins, CWAC leader, has praised the community's response and understanding during the COVID-19 crisis.

She said: “We must prioritise essential services such as social care, waste collection, community services, highways and streetcare, especially at this time when certain sections of our community are more vulnerable than ever.

“This has meant that we have had to redeploy staff into priority services in order to ensure we can continue to support the community by providing the most critical services.

“We appreciate the disruption caused to our residents by the loss of some of these services and I thank you for your continued support and understanding. I would remind everyone that we can all play our part and help, by staying home and only going out if it is essential to do so.

“I would also like to thank our frontline staff and the many volunteers who are going above and beyond during this uncertain time to help the most vulnerable in our communities.”

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Staff working on frontline services have been observing social distancing and have altered their working practices during the outbreak, in order to ensure they can continue to deliver the critical services we all rely on.