BINMEN have refused to collect a wheelie bin from a house near Trowbridge because of health and safety fears due to the fact it was sitting on gravel.

Mark Birkett, a 38-year-old company director from Devizes Road in Hilperton, was dismayed to find his bin had been left unemptied again this week, after a series of failed collections.

He contacted West Wiltshire District Council to find out why he had been left out and was surprised to find out that Focsa binmen, who collect waste in west Wiltshire, are not allowed to retrieve a bin if it is stood on gravel.

The council said Focsa is unable to collect bins which ‘are placed on gravel due to the health and safety implications of dragging wheels through gravel’.

Mr Birkett said: “I can understand the principle behind this decision as it is difficult to drag a bin through deep gravel.

“What frustrates me is that the council and Focsa are not using a realistic and common sense approach.

“I drag my household-waste bin down the garden and over my gravel, which incidentally is hard set Cotswold gravel not the loose sort, and then place it at the edge of the property directly next to, but not on the pavement.

“I avoid the pavement because it is very narrow and it is on a slope and in the past it has fallen over spilling rubbish into the street.

“All that is needed from the binmen is to walk across the pavement, a width of 35 inches, and reach for my bin which is alongside the wall, another 29 inches. It’s not much to ask.”

In June a couple in Warminster contacted the Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News after binmen refused to empty their green bin containing grass cuttings because they couldn’t lift it with two fingers.

Cllr Ernie Clark, contacted the district council on behalf of Mr Birkett. He said: “We don’t want anybody to get injured but this is a case of health and safety taken to a ridiculous degree. It’s bureaucracy gone mad.”

Council officers have offered Mr Birkett and his neighbour who suffers from the same problem a compromise and asked him to place the back wheels of the bin on the pavement with the front on the gravel.

The council’s waste and recycling department said: “The officer spoke to both customers and suggested leaving each bin from each customer immediately adjacent to either ends of the wall.

“This would ensure that the bins were not placed on gravel, nor were blocking the access along the pavement.”