Council broke our bin - and will take weeks to replace it
A COMPLAINT from a householder after the lid fell off their wheelie bin and into the back of the refuse lorry has led to several claims from others the same thing has happened to them.
An anonymous poster on Spotted Birstall Facebook page wrote: “After today’s black bin collection, we were not happy to discover the emptying of our bin included completely ripping off the bin lid, which is now inside the lorry with the rubbish.
“The bin was returned to its spot, minus its lid, with no note, explanation or advice. No idea whether the binmen report that their lorry ripped the lid off.
“Our neighbours have said their bin lids have been damaged, although not ripped off.
“Contacting Charnwood Borough Council then took ages as the automated message said that there were a lot of people calling.”
The complainant said when they finally got through to the council, they were told it could take up to eight weeks to replace their bin and the replacement would have a 180-litre capacity, instead of the 240-litre capacity of the damaged bin.
One person responding to the
post said: “It happened to us and we were left without a lid on our bin.
“Three weeks later we received a new - but smaller - bin.”
Another said: “Same happened to me a few weeks ago. Seems they are replacing them with smaller bins.”
A third person said: “I did manage to complain and get a bigger bin back if I was willing to have a used one, which didn’t bother me.”
A woman wrote: “Could it be the new lorries causing the damage? My black bin lid is hanging off after emptying yesterday.”
The Mercury contacted Charnwood Borough Council for a comment.
It had not replied by the time of going to press last night.
However, the council’s website said: “We will only replace a black bin if it is broken.
“If your black bin does need replacing it will be replaced with a 180-litre black bin.
“Charnwood Borough Council now only distributes 180-litre black bins as we feel this is adequate for most households and will reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and encourage recycling.”