Council asks residents to empty their own bins - because they are too heavy for binmen

A council has written to thousands of householders asking them to help 'take a lot of the strain out of the job' following a health and safety review.

Heavy to handle: Jean Ainsworth, 80, pulls out the bin pod

Officials at Craven District Council  -  based in Skipton, North Yorkshire  -  fear refuse workers could injure themselves if they are forced to lift heavy containers called 'pods' or 'caddy inserts' which fit inside wheelie bins and carry material for recycling.

The two plastic pods  -  which have handles and look like oversized shopping baskets  -  are used for glass and tins.

They are designed to fit inside a wheelie bin and go side by side on the top. They can be heavy if full and health and safety officers are concerned that binmen could suffer back injuries if they have to lift them out of the wheelie bins from above waist height.

So council managers have asked residents to take the risk instead and leave the 'pods' on the ground to be emptied.

The move has been angrily condemned by residents, in an area which has a large elderly population.

Mark Wallace, campaign director of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'This is a total dog's dinner. Do the council really expect pensioners to lug around bottles rather than the binmen doing it?'

Health and safety: The pods, which fit inside the wheely bin, have to be removed by householders to take the 'strain out of the job'

Craven has a triple bin scheme. One wheelie bin contains food waste, another garden waste and a third blue bin is for paper as well as the pods for glass and tins.

The controversial letter, written by the council's recycling manager Paul Florentine, is being sent to 9,500 homes and so far 2,000 have been told of the changes to the recycling scheme.

In it he states: 'Unfortunately the success of the scheme is having a negative effect on many of our staff due to the awkward height of the bins and the amount of lifting they have to do during their working day.

'This health and safety issue has been raised by our Corporation Safety Adviser and our Operational Management Team and we need to look at how we can improve the situation.

'Could I ask that from your next collection day that the "pods" or "caddy inserts" are removed and placed next to your blue bin for collection and not within it?

'This would take a lot of the strain out of the job for our staff and reduce the risk of them sustaining injuries.'

One resident, Julie Ward, 40, of Cross Hills, near Keighley, said: 'When I think about it, I just crack up laughing. I think the binmen are being lazy.

'It's just so annoying that we've got to start doing half their job for them. They are worried that this work might hurt them, but I don't think they've thought about how it might hurt a quite old person to pull these pods out.'

Jean Ainsworth, 80, who is recovering from a broken wrist, said: 'I can't lift these containers out, and I only put the rubbish out once a month because they are too heavy for me. It's disgusting and it makes me wonder what I'm paying my council tax for.'

A council spokesman said: ' Naturally we do not expect elderly or frail residents to remove the glass and can pods, which is why it has just been a request to residents to consider, if they feel able to manage it.'