Swale council offices will close early today as temperatures soar in what is expected to be the hottest day ever.

All staff will be sent home at 4pm meaning Swale House in East Street, Sittingbourne, will have to close.

The authority's assistance desks in Sheppey Gateway, High Street, Sheerness, and the Alexander Centre in Faversham will also shut.

The council's waste contractor Biffa has also announced it will pull its crews off the road as well due to the heat.

People who were expecting their bins to be emptied today are being told to leave them out to be collected either tomorrow or Saturday.

A Swale council spokesman said: "As anyone who’s ever visited the council offices in hot weather knows, we don’t have anything like air conditioning so it can get uncomfortable for people visiting and working here.

"As it is expected to be the hottest day of the year so far, and also potentially the hottest day on record, we have to think about the welfare of those visiting council offices and our staff.

"For this reason the frontline council offices and services will close at 4pm today.

"The housing team will have their out of hours service running from 4pm so anyone needing help can call 01634 304400.

"We have to think about the welfare of those visiting council offices and our staff..." Swale council spokesman

"Our waste contractor has also told us they are withdrawing their crews due to the heat, so they won’t be able to complete their rounds for the day.

"They will be out early in the morning tomorrow to start catching up, and will also be out on Saturday to collect any they miss tomorrow.

"If your bin isn’t collected as usual, please leave it out and they’ll get to it as soon as they can.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience, but we hope you understand why this is necessary."

Last month councillors voted to declare a climate and ecological emergency, committing the borough to being carbon neutral by 2030.

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