‘Buy your own wheelie bin’

OAP told to pay for new bin after hers was stolen while she was visiting mortuary

A pensioner claims she was told to pay for a new wheelie bin after her own was stolen while she was paying her respects to a dead relative.

Angry Verna Cole is considering withholding the £25 Sunderland City Council fee as she said the original bin’s disappearance was “through no fault of my own”.

The council, for its part, has offered its sympathies to Mrs Cole over her family’s bereavement and insisted it would be in touch shortly in an attempt to resolve the matter.

Her green bin, used to store general waste, disappeared on collection day from outside her home in Down hill, Sunderland, while she accompanied her family to visit a recently-deceased relative in a funeral parlour.

Mother-of-four Mrs Cole, 74, said: “I put it out about noon as I went out.

"When I came back a couple of hours later I could not find my bin anywhere.

"Normally if I am in I bring it back in as soon as possible as we have had problems in the past with bins going missing.”

After a search failed to uncover the bin, she contacted the council and said she was told by two members of staff that she would have to pay £25 for a replacement.

Mrs Cole, who used to help her late husband, Alan, run his business providing logs and sticks for fireplaces, said: “I could not believe what I was hearing.

"I am a council tax payer and just want to stand up for my rights.

"I pay my bills, don’t ask for much and I don’t see why I should pay for a replacement when it was not my fault.”

She added: "I normally bring it back in straight away, but on this day I couldn’t.”

Mrs Cole, who also used to work in Sunderland’s former Notarianni’s ice cream parlour, believes the bin was probably stolen by yobs and set alight on nearby fields.

Council leader Councillor Graeme Miller extended the council’s sympathies for Mrs Cole’s bereavement.

Cllr Miller said: “We are very sorry to hear about what has happened and would like to send our sympathies to this lady for her bereavement.

"We will be in touch to discuss her missing bin and to see how we can resolve this matter.”

Verna Cole is angry after she says the council told her she must pay £25 to replace her wheelie bin.

Verna Cole at the back gate from where her wheelie bin was stolen from.