Rubbish rules fuel assaults on binmen

ATTACKS on binmen have soared as residents lash out at rubbish rules.

One of the attacks involved a gun, another a sword and a head-butt on a refuse collector.

In 2013 there were 159 incidents and in 2016 309, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The number has risen annually over the past four years from 117 in 2012.

A resident in Wirral, Merseyside, threatened binmen with a gun, while in Birmingham a crew were set upon by a homeowner wielding a Samurai sword.

Some attacks were sparked by residents who were angered by rules and quotas.

A Nottinghamshire crew were pelted with rubbish by a man who chased them shouting and swearing after they had refused to take his recycling bin because it contained too many wrong items.

A resident in Dudley, West Midlands, was arrested after he head-butted a binman who refused to take any rubbish over the quota.