Winton resident has "had enough" of bin collection problems

Winton resident Joan Browning has described the council as the “worst [she’s] ever known” after repeated attempts to improve the bin collection service at her home.

She said: “I’ve been having these problems for over 10 years and I’ve had no joy. The refuse men come in and throw my bins all over the place.

“The postman always has to move three bins to get access to my front door, they have blocked the pathway to my disability scooter so I can’t get to it, they have banged the bins into my trees and broken a picket fence by the garden.

“Evidently, they think it’s funny to treat elderly and disabled people in this way.”

Joan, who lives alone after losing her husband, has a severe spinal disability which restricts her movement and means she is unable to take her bins to the end of her drive.

The council granted her special dispensation meaning that refuse collectors would enter her property to take the bins. However, Joan says her gate is routinely left open and that bins are left on the ground.

Often, she says, the bins are positioned outside her front door and she is unable to move them herself, relying on neighbours to move them so she may leave the house.

Joan, a gymnast in her youth, added: “If I was able, I would take care of my own bins. I’ve never been rude to the council or the bin men yet I get treated dreadfully.

“This is not a life one wants to live.

“I just want an apology and assurances that they will treat my home with respect.”

A council spokesperson said: “BCP Council’s Waste and Cleansing team was in touch with Mrs Browning, a Winton resident, in March 2021 and reassured her that her assisted bin collection service would be executed in the correct fashion – the bins returned to their correct position and the garden gate shut and so on.

“We apologise if that hasn’t happened and will continue to monitor the situation.”