We’re forced to drag bins half a mile... as potholes pose danger to dustmen!
A COUPLE in their 70s have been forced to drag their wheelie bins half a mile up and down their lane each week – because potholes in it ‘pose a health and safety risk’ to binmen riding in a 30-ton lorry.
Graham and Patricia Patton take up to 30 minutes to haul their domestic waste or recycling each way along the quarter-mile track in order for it to be collected.
The couple, who both have health problems, live on the edge of open countryside in a private lane where residents’ are responsible for the road’s upkeep.
The council permits rubbish crews to collect from the handful of houses along Gossett Lane.
But the Pattons live at the end of a track which branches off the lane. In January officials ruled that the surface of this track was a risk to both binmen and their lorries.
The couple have lived at their three-bedroom detached home in Brandon, between Rugby and Coventry, for 53 years, and have since attempted to fill in most of the potholes themselves, but Rugby Borough Council says it is still unfit for their lorries.
Mr Patton, a retired assembly line labourer who suffers from back pain and sciatica, said: ‘We’re really struggling and don’t know who to turn to. There are a few bumps in the road but it is not that bad, we drive our own car up the lane so I don’t know why a huge bin lorry can’t cope.
‘I tried to fill in some of the potholes myself, because that’s what a letter from the council suggested, but had to stop because of my back. I think they ought to be ashamed of themselves to get two pensioners to drag heavy wheelie bins a quarter of a mile each way down a road.’ The couple’s £200,000 home, Green Acres, is the only address along the stone and gravel track at the end of Gossett Lane, which is known locally as The Green.
They drag their bins along it to a farmhouse on the lane, where bin lorries collect the rubbish.
The council does offer a ‘pull-out’ service for residents with disabilities or mobility problems, where wheelie bins are collected from properties, emptied and returned.
But Mr Patton said that the couple had not been offered such assistance during discussions with the council.
Along with two neighbours, the couple, both 73, have also investigated having it surfaced with tarmac but say they cannot afford the £800 bill for their share.
Another resident in Gossett Lane, who asked not to be identified, said: ‘It is certainly a long way to drag a wheelie bin each week though, especially at Mr and Mrs Patton’s age.’ A Rugby Borough Council spokesman said yesterday: ‘We requested suitable repairs were carried out and, as an interim measure, for the residents to place bins at the bottom of the lane.
‘When Mr Patton informed us the work had been completed, we inspected the lane but found it was still in a poor state of repair.
‘Earlier this year we informed residents the poor state of the lane presented a health and safety risk to our crews and also risked damaging the collection vehicle.
‘We’ll happily review our decision once repairs have been carried out by residents.’