ByJonathan Kalmus, Jonathan Kalmus
Bury MP Ivan Lewis and local Labour councillors are experiencing a backlash from Jewish voters following the council's decison to reduce general rubbish collections to once in three weeks.
The move - passed unanimously by the council's cabinet last Wednesday - prompted angry householders to vent their frustration on social media.
They were given little more than a week's notice of the impending vote by councillors on the cost-saving measure, which Mr Lewis was sympathetic to in the light of the impact of government cutbacks in council funding.
Residents posting on a Facebook page with 5,000 supporters believed the reduced collections would cost Mr Lewis support at the next election. Martin Newman wrote: "Perhaps someone can tell me what we are supposed to do once our grey bin is full and there is another week to go [until the next collection]. I don't know how a flawed system can be implemented. Sadly this will be a vote loser for Labour."
Mother-of-three Susie Shonn posted: "I feel very let down by the local council and government."
Mr Lewis wrote on Labour's Bury South website that he would "hold the council to account for ensuring the new system is implemented in a way which is sensitive to the needs of households and has minimum impact on the community".