6m row with neighbours … over the bins!

MORE than one in five families have fallen out with neighbours over bins or rubbish collection in the past year, a poll has found.

Some 5.8million people have argued with neighbours about household waste in the past year, according to a survey by Churchill Home Insurance.

It also found one in six have reported their neighbours to the council following a row over how they handle their rubbish.

The cause of more than a quarter of arguments is rubbish being left outside for too long. A further 23 per cent are caused by waste simply being left out for others to pick up, while 22 per cent start off with a neighbour putting the wrong kind of waste in another’s recycling.

Rows were most common in London and in semi- detached homes, the poll of 2,000 people found.

The prevalence of arguments over waste follows a decade of ever- tightening restrictions such as compulsory recycling schemes, fortnightly bin collections and the introduction of kitchen slop buckets.

This has meant families face strict limits on the amount of general waste they can leave out for binmen. They can also be fined for overfilling their wheelie bins or mixing different kinds of rubbish.

A spokesman for Churchill said if reasonable conversation does not resolve a dispute then the best course of action is to contact the council to arrange mediation or put in place an enforcement order.