News

A Hawkinge pensioner was told to cut up his neatly flattened cardboard boxes into tiny pieces after binmen refused to collect them.

John Browne, 64, a retired engineer, was told the boxes were too big and he would have to cut them into smaller pieces.

Mr Browne, had unfolded the cardboard boxes from his new fitted kitchen and set them down in his front garden ahead of a rubbish collection last Friday.

Shepway council admitted he had been misinformed and advised him to take the card to a recycling centre instead.

Mr Browne was reported in the Daily Mail as saying: "The council tries to encourage us to recycle but they don't make it easy.

"I cannot believe this is the sort of service you get for your money. It's disgusting."

His problems come at a time when around 170 councils have withdrawn weekly rubbish collections.

Some local authorities will not collect bins placed too far from the kerb, while others issue £100 fines for infringing recycling rules.