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Anger at council bin 'snoopers' in Boris's street
Katharine Barney, Evening Standard31 Jul 2008
Council officers have been through the bins of thousands of residents including those living on the same streets as Boris Johnson, two TV stars and high court judges.
Some 53 streets across Islington were targeted by "bin spies" as part of an in-depth analysis that the council says helped it improve recycling rates.
Mr Johnson and actresses Su Pollard and Linda Robson have homes in streets that were investigated.
A total of 1,000 households had their rubbish inspected in two separate incidents. The content of the bins were taken away and studied at a secure location.
Birds Of A Feather star Linda Robson, who lives in a street near The Angel where bins were raided, said: "How dare they? I recycle but there may have been private things I was throwing away. It is really intrusive.
Hi-De-Hi! actress Su Pollard, who lives in Barnsbury in one of the binraidedstreets, said: "I am quite incensed. It smacks of Big Brother.
"One feels like a suspect. There is nothing in my bins that would incriminate me in any way, it's mostly yoghurt pots, but I am terribly uneasy about it," she added. "It will make you think twice before leaving rubbish out."
Boris Johnson was not available to comment but a spokeswoman said he was probably too busy to have noticed whether his bins had been raided.
The incidents, in 2004 and 2005, were revealed after a Freedom of Information request. A council spokesman said the process happened a couple of times a decade but stressed that it was done by other local authorities.
It follows news that in Brent spying laws have been used to monitor more than 300 residents without their knowledge.
Council staff have employed a variety of covert surveillance techniques to spy on those who let their dogs foul in parks, noisy neighbours, benefit cheats, underage drinkers and businesses that flout trading standards laws.
In most cases, targets are not warned they are being watched by undercover officers or tracked on CCTV cameras.
Islington councillor Greg Foxsmith said: "This is not about snooping into households bins or invading privacy. It was an investigation into rubbish to see what is being sent to landfill and how much more could be recycled.
He added that rubbish was not looked at individually nor were records taken.
"Confidentiality is taken very seriously," he said. "This work led directly to the council's decision to change its household collections to a one-box system. At the time of the surveys we were recycling eight per cent of rubbish, now it's up to 27 per cent.
"Without this work we would never have known what people were throwing away and taxpayers would face much higher landfill costs."
Reader views (4)
I thought yoghurt pots could not be recycled?
- Anon, UK, 01/08/2008 10:13
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I am on holiday at the moment and it was recycling day yesterday in a street in Portsmouth and I watched a bin collector lift the lid and rifle through the contents of a bin and then stand reading what he had found until the lorry caught him up. The driver of this lorry was also smoking which I though was illegal in a commercial vehicle. I think this is disgusting and if I caught someone doing this on my property I would be straight on the phone to the local Council and fur would fly. There was no reason for this action at all.
- Anon, UK, 01/08/2008 10:11
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I say, leave those celebs alone! Those cavier chums don't deserve the same laws as ordinary folk. How shocking!
- Charlie, London, 01/08/2008 08:31
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I have no problem with dog-owners that let their dogs crap all over the place being spied on and prosecuted.
- Mike B, London, 31/07/2008 15:22
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