Six inches makes a big difference at the tip

I quite like my car and have no wish to turn it into a refuse wagon. I therefore have a small five-foot long camping trailer and have taken my rubbish to Barwell tip in it for years.

That was until the weekend when I was confronted by two yellow jacketed personnel.

One looked suspiciously at my trailer, which was loaded with conifer trimmings. She summoned the ‘Keeper of the Council Tape Measure’ who solemnly confirmed that my trailer was six inches over the permitted limit and therefore the contents couldn’t be tipped without a permit.

It was explained that their new masters are Leicestershire County Council and some unidentified pen-pusher has decreed that the rules must be adhered to...or else!

I have no complaint against the staff at the tip; they’re the ones facing the flack while their masters are probably enjoying the more fragrant air of a golf course rather than facing their public.

Of course, I should have applied for a permit but that wasn’t upper-most in my mind given that the operatives had once been able to use their initiative and in any case, I’d completely forgotten about the restriction.

What to do with the offending load? I parked outside of the tip and, using my brown wheely-bin, I manually tipped three loads unhindered.

I was satisfied and I’m sure my doctor will be delighted with the additional exercise undertaken.

This area, in common with many other parts of the country suffers from regular flytipping which costs council tax-payers a considerable amount of money to clean up.

Therefore, why is it beyond the comprehension of the waste management division of the county council to understand that by making life easier for people to legitimately dispose of their rubbish, the number of incidents of fly-tipping would probably be reduced?

They would also do well to reflect that they are the servants of the public and not their masters. David Kitto Barwell