Northumberland council bin plan angers residents

May 23 2009 by Amy Hunt, The Journal

RUBBISH police could confiscate bins if householders fill them with the wrong items.

Northumberland County Council hopes to crack down on contamination in recycling wheelie bins using hard-line tactics.

Householders who repeatedly ignore warnings to stop throwing waste food, nappies or dirty items into the bin which is supposed to be for dry, clean, recyclable materials, will have their bin confiscated.

They will then be charged £35 to get their bin back.

The county council said it considered it “a reasonable and fair approach” to addressing the issue of contamination and says it could hand out fixed penalty notices but has chosen not to take this approach as it is too heavy-handed.

But some say it marks the creation of a “bin police”.

Mike Thorpe, parish councillor for Henshaw in the Tyne Valley, said: “It beggars belief. I really do think we have come to a police state when it comes to bins. What sort of society are we living in.”

Ponteland North county councillor Richard Dodd said: “It sounds like a silly idea, although I understand the motive of trying to make people recycle properly. But they are going about it the wrong way.