Arun District Council starts legal action against Onyx

ARUN has taken its former cleansing contractor, Onyx, to the High Court in London in the final stages of a two-year, multi-million pound claim.

By The Newsroom

Published 21st Jul 2005, 11:40 BST

Updated 8th Jun 2018, 01:00 BST

The case began on Monday, following Onyx's withdrawal in June, 2003, from the contract, only halfway through its 15-year life-span.

In a formal letter notifying Arun of its decision to terminate the contract, Onyx gave the reason as being continued losses on the contract.

Onyx was responsible for all of Arun's main front-line cleansing services, including domestic refuse collection, clinical waste collection, household/neighbourhood centre recycling, street, beach and public convenience cleaning and litter bin emptying.

As a result of Onyx's withdrawal, Arun called in another private contractor, Verdant, to take over these responsibilities.

Colin Rogers, services director for Arun, said: "Our compensation claim against Onyx comes as a direct result of additional costs caused by them, which the council incurred due to their unilateral decision to terminate their involvement with the council's cleansing contract eight years early."