Wheelie Bin Roundup 28th August

Wheelie bin roundup 28^th August

South Cambridgeshire District Council workers removed 17 wheelie bins worth of rubbish that was left behind by travellers who settled on a recreation ground.

The land is owned by Stapleford Parish Council, who gave the travellers an eviction notice, asking them to move on.

Once the travellers left, a huge clean-up had to take place, which was carried out by council workers, the parish council, and local people.

 Bin men in Lincoln were bemused during one of their rounds when the machine in the back of their refuse vehicle chewed up a wheelie bin.

A neighbour of the unfortunate bin owner said he was walking his dog and he stopped as he saw the machine crunching up the bin. He said one of the bin men just scratched his head and carried on with what he was doing.

The bin owner contacted the council and was originally told that they would have to pay for a new bin. However, the council later relented and the resident was not charged for a replacement bin.

A man who hid hypodermic syringes in his wheelie bin abused refuse collectors and was found to be carrying an offensive weapon, when he confronted them for refusing to collect waste from his recycling bin because of the needles.

The man was then recorded on CCTV cameras installed on the vehicle, being verbally abuse to the bin men.

He pleaded guilty at Lincoln Magistrates’ to possessing an offensive weapon and using threatening, abusive, and insulting words and behaviour. He was fined £120 and £40 costs.

The Borough Council installed the cameras on refuse vehicles to reduce the risk of injury and damage claims, and to improve the safety of their workers.

The council say that although there was some apprehension about the installation of CCTV on vehicles, it has proven to be very useful, especially in cases like this one.

The cameras have also been used as evidence in cases where residents have demanded that bin men attend their property again because their collection was missed. In most cases, the footage demonstrated that people has either forgotten to put their bin out on the correct day, or that they have put the wrong bin out.

The footage has also been used to dismiss claims of damage to parked vehicles and property, which residents said had been caused by refuse vehicles.

The Government’s surveillance cameras commissioner said that the council’s use of CCTV in these cases was an example of good practice.