ITN - Thursday, June 5 12:00 pm
A frail pensioner is forced to make a one-mile round trip just to get her wheelie bin emptied.
(Advertisement)
The council has reportedly ordered its bin lorries to stop driving to June Kay's house, meaning the 79-year-old has to negotiate a steep hill with her heavy bin.
Mrs Kay, 79, from Bolton by Bowland, Lancashire, said: "I am simply unable to do it. I am too old. I can't carry rubbish down the lane.
"I can just about manage to walk there and back, but that's only on fine days and without me carrying anything. I don't know how I am supposed to manage."
Her neighbour Harry Johnston is also unhappy with the changes. He has reportedly been told he has to share communal bins with a family living two miles away.
Mr Johnston told a newspaper: "I rang the council to explain that it was impossible."
He added: "In the winter, when it is frosty, it is particularly dangerous, and, not only that, there are sometimes 30 cows to negotiate. Then we have to get the bins over a cattle grid."
Ribble Valley Council deputy leader Richard Sherras said: "We gradually introduced the new scheme. There are a few teething problems.
"Some people find it a bit more difficult than when the bin was collected at the back of the house, because they were just ordinary dustbins with sacks.
"Because of recycling, we have a three-bin system now, and the lorries are much bigger.
"We have got to recycle, and I am afraid it causes some inconveniences. We are trying to do it the best we can."
