Cancer patient, 85, forced to travel one-and-a-half MILES to put bins out

Families in a remote village were shocked to be told the collection point for their rubbish was being moved  -  to a mile and a half away.

The people of Litherskew, in the Yorkshire Dales, now have to drive or carry their refuse to the next village.

The same controversial shake-up of services has seen an 85-year-old cancer sufferer told he would have to drag his wheelie bin more than 100 yards if he wanted the council to empty it.

John Martin, 85, and his wife Gillian, 76, who suffers from severe arthritis, were told they did not qualify for assistance.
Despite their age and frailty, the council said they would have to drag their wheelie bin to the end of an unpaved lane in the village of Marsett in Upper Wensleydale.

The new Richmondshire Council rubbish system, which introduced wheelie bins and changed collection points, is highly unpopular and has attracted more than 500 complaints from residents in just six weeks since it was introduced.

Councillors say common sense has been thrown overboard and replaced by 'bonkers' cost-cutting measures.

They say the ugly communal collection points are ruining the beautiful dales countryside and adversely affecting tourism.

Long haul: The circle on the left is where villagers have to take their bins and the circle on the right is the hamlet where they live - more than a mile away. Below, the route the villagers must travel

In Litherskew, residents were offered a choice of two evils.

They could either transport their fully-loaded wheelie bins the 1.5 miles to Sedbusk for collection each time, or leave the bin there and carry the rubbish bags to it.

Refuse trucks would visit the village only if families clubbed together to pay for a waste compound.

Alice Amsden said: 'We have to pile the bags into the Land Rover and take them down to the bin. But not everyone wants to share their car with a week's worth of rubbish.'

Local councillor John Blackie said: 'This is completely and utterly bonkers.'

In nearby Marsett, Mr Martin said: 'Our rubbish wasn't being collected because we couldn't push a full wheelie bin 100 yards.

End point: The council collection point for the village of Sedbusk

'The council said they would not drive up a road which was not tarmacked, even though tankers delivering oil do so regularly.'

Mrs Martin said: 'My husband has cancer and is very frail while I have arthritis. The bins can get very heavy and it was too difficult for either of us to drag the bin along the road.

'We contacted the council to try to get some help but although people were polite we were always given the same response  -  that they had a policy they had to stick to.'

Richmondshire council has now arranged for their bin to be collected from their doorstep on a temporary basis until a permanent solution can be found.

The council has rejected calls from residents and councillors for an immediate review of the system.

Instead there will be an interim review in September and a fuller evaluation next January. Council officers say every complaint will be fully investigated.

Last month the Daily Mail revealed how 80-year-old June Kay had been told to drag her bin more than half a mile down a steep hill from her Lancashire farmhouse before Ribble Valley Council would collect her rubbish.