A council has asked householders to partially empty their own bins to prevent binmen hurting themselves.

Letters have been sent to residents in the Craven area of North Yorkshire asking them to remove a container for glass and cans from inside the bins. It states: "It would take a lot of strain out of the job for our staff", adding it would reduce injury risks. A council spokeswoman said people were not obliged if they were unable to..

The request will be given to all 9,500 householders who use the council's triple bin recycling scheme - where residents have a large main bin for paper and card, containing two 50-litre compartments for glass and cans. The council said a review of its health and safety procedures found lifting the rubbish was having a "negative effect" on its staff.

The move has been angrily condemned by residents, in an area which has a large elderly population. Mark Wallace, campaign director of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "This is a total dog's dinner. Do the council really expect pensioners to lug around bottles rather than the binmen doing it?"

One resident, Julie Ward, 40, of Cross Hills, near Keighley, said: "When I think about it, I just crack up laughing. I think the binmen are being lazy. "It's just so annoying that we've got to start doing half their job for them. They are worried that this work might hurt them, but I don't think they've thought about how it might hurt a quite old person to pull these pods out."

OK chaps...lift with your legs not your backs...


The council may have had a point...