By Karol Steele

Canterbury shop owner Manny Armario is celebrating the success of his campaign to have the city centre rubbish bins returned to the streets after they were taken away for safety reasons amid fears the August riots would spread to Kent.

Mr Armario began a petition a fortnight ago and collected over 600 signatures from residents and visitors demanding the return of the bins.

The Canterbury businessman, who runs Whatever Comics in St Peter's Street, said it was a triumph to see their return on Wednesday after the Canterbury City Council had a rethink and decided to clean and replace all the bins.

He said, "For once this is a triumph for commonsense and public opinion. Rubbish was starting to build up on the streets, and people desperate for somewhere to put their rubbish were either trying to put them into the traders' wheelie bins or bringing them into the shops and asking if we had bins out back. Our city will begin to look beautiful again."

Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2011©