BIFFA bin men get five days' pay to work a bank holiday the Globe can reveal.

But this Easter, thousands of bins were left un-emptied as residents were unaware of the holiday collections.

Refuse operatives who worked on Good Friday and Easter Monday raked in an incredible TEN days' pay, even though their work load was more than halved.

It is the first time that Biffa, who won the council's £11m annual contract last year, have carried out a bank holiday service.

But one Biffa employee, who did not want to be named, said that the amount of money spent on bank holiday incentives is "ridiculous," and "hits tax payers right in the pocket."

He said: "When Biffa won the contract, they splashed out on a fleet of new wagons and made lots of promises that still haven't materialised.

"The Wirral public, who pay one of the most expensive council tax bills in the country, are definitely not getting value for money."

He added: "Being a tax payer myself, I want to know that my money is going to better use and it angers me to think about the state of the NHS and the poor doctors and nurses who have to work long and hard hours for a lot less than five days pay."

After working both of the Easter Bank Holidays, the employee told the Globe that only a "pathetic amount" of rubbish was collected because residents did not know to put their bins out.

And people in Greasby who did put their bins out, complained to the council after wagons missed out their streets.

The employee said: "Biffa didn't publicise news of the collections until the very last minute because they were not sure they could get enough staff to work.

"We were offered either five days pay, or four days pay and a day in lieu per bank holiday - an offer too good to turn down."

But the council, which has apologised for the inconvenience, said that tax-payers do not subsidise the incentive for Biffa staff. "Biffa was given the contract because it was able to offer us a more flexible and effective service, with additional Bank Holiday collections.

"As a private company, how Biffa manages this service and pays its staff is a matter for them - our concern is that the service is operated punctually and efficiently.

"The cost to the council of this service is worked out when the contract is negotiated and there is no extra cost to residents no matter how Biffa chooses to reward its staff."

And a Biffa spokesman said: "We are implementing Bank Holiday waste collections in Wirral to improve the levels of service that residents demand and as it is a new service, we are asking operatives to work on a day that would otherwise have been a holiday.

"It is only reasonable that we reward our operatives for coming to work on a public holiday and that level of reward is a confidential matter."