A petition signed by thousands of people against cuts to bin rounds will not be discussed at full council.

Enfield Council said this is because many people who signed it did not give their full address.

The petition, signed by more than 6,000 people and set up by Palmers Green resident Helen Mitchell, is in opposition to plans to shift waste and recycling rounds to once a fortnight instead of once a week.

The number of signatures needed for a petition to be debated at a full council meeting is 3,124.

But many of the people who signed the bin round petition only gave their name and postcode – meaning they are not counted as valid responses by Enfield Council.

Conservative leader Cllr Joanne Laban said the council should find a way to discuss it.

She said: “I understand they have a constitution, and the petition does not meet it – but given the sheer number who have signed it, they should find some way to accommodate it.

“You can’t really ignore thousands of taxpayers.

“Considering how badly the consultation went, saying ‘you can’t discuss it’ is another blow for people with an alternative opinion.”

One option would be for the organiser of the petition to request a deputation to speak at the council’s cabinet.

Petitions can be discussed at cabinet meetings if they have 50 or more valid signatures.

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “The lead petitioner has been informed that the petition was not accepted as it does not meet the requirements of Enfield Council’s published petition scheme, which was approved by full council in 2017.

“The petition scheme specifies that petitions presented to the local authority must include the addresses of everyone who has signed the document.

“In the case of the ‘Bin the new bin collection’ petition, this is not the case and addresses have not been provided.

“Officers from the scrutiny team are happy to meet the lead petitioner to discuss ways in which this can be taken forward.”