A Pembrokeshire school is thought to have generated hundreds of bags of rubbish because staff shortages meant there was nobody to load and unload the dishwasher.

Pupils at Ysgol Bro Gwaun in Fishguard had to use disposable cutlery and crockery for months due to the staffing situation in the school canteen.

Pembrokeshire County Council refused to say how long the situation went on for, but the Western Telegraph understands that it was at least from January to March this year.

Some students at the school said that they were unable to order harder food, such as jacket potatoes, as the disposable cutlery would break while they were trying to eat.

The council failed to answer questions on how many of the school's 594 pupils had a school dinner or hot snack from the canteen each day during the months that the dishwasher was not in use.

“There have been some issues with staff shortages which have required the temporary use of disposable plates and cutlery,” said a statement issued by the council last month. “The issues with staffing have now been rectified.”

The council also failed to respond to questions about whether the disposable tableware was recyclable or sent to be recycled.

Recycle Now national recycling campaign says that disposable plates can be recycled if all food waste is wiped off them.

Given the staffing problems at the school canteen, it seems unlikely that there would have been the resources to clean the disposable tableware sufficiently for it to be recycled.

However, due to the authority remaining tight-lipped on the subject the Western Telegraph is unable to confirm whether the waste was recycled or not.

The council added that it knew that it could do more in terms of recycling.

“Pembrokeshire County Council is proud of its recycling record and in 2023 was announced as the top recycling local authority in Wales for the third year in a row,” said the spokesperson.

“We know we can do more and continue to strive to improve recycling rates.”