Dear Santa, please could I have a 240-litre wheelie bin?

A COUNCIL has been ridiculed for recommending that locals buy a friend or family member a £60 wheelie bin for Christmas.

Bromley council has written to residents in south London suggesting that a 240-litre wheelie bin for garden waste with fortnightly collection thrown in could be the perfect present.

Writing in Environment Matters, the winter newsletter, the council states: “Need an unusual gift idea? Treat that special someone to a year’s worth of garden waste collections!

“Your loved one will receive a large 240l wheelie bin to hold all types of green garden waste including leaves, weeds, twigs, grass cuttings and even real Christmas trees.

“Why not sign up yourself and save the hassle of disposal? If you have a smaller garden or if you only garden occasionally, you can even share the cost and the bin with a neighbour. “

It says you can either buy the bin – which will be emptied for the year – or buy gift voucher.

The council says that the annual garden waste collection service costs the equivalent of just £1.15 a week and is “exclusive to residents in the borough” and is “ideal if you are frequent gardener or if you are unable to home compost large amounts of garden waste yourself ”.

Some residents have called the bin gift idea “daft”.

Chris Stevens, 36, said: “My wife would not be happy if she found a massive wheelie bin under the tree. Apart from anything else, it would cost a fortune to wrap it up – what a daft idea.”

Sam Russell wrote online: “Drop everything – Bromley council has the best gift ideas.”

And Sharon Hook wrote: “What a rubbish idea!”