I was contacted this week by a resident asking why he should pay for a new wheelie bin if his is stolen. Clearly he shouldn’t! The council are introducing a charge of £20 for lost or stolen bins.

I asked for  response from the relevant director and the following was provided. I think it would we worth everyone putting a number on their bin just in case! If anyone does have a problem please let me know.

Council response:

The most common reason why people lose a wheelie bin is that a neighbour inadvertently takes the bin into their property, or that it is not put back in the right place by the refuse collectors. For this reason we usually advise wait a few days before replacing a bin, as a high proportion of the time they do turn back up.

The vast majority of households have no need to replace during the “lifetime” of the bin. Where they are damaged, our crews will attempt to repair. The decision to charge for bins that was not an easy one, and follows the practice in many other Councils. I do recognise that there would be a charge for those that have had their bins stolen, but this needs to be put in perspective, and the risks of it can be reduced by markings on the bin and bringing it in after collection. As you would expect, we will keep the impact of these policies under review (as I am sure Scrutiny will do) taking further measures if necessary, and monitoring the levels of stolen bins in conjunction with the police.