RESIDENTS have called for the council to give them wheelie bins due to animals ripping the rubbish bags apart and leaving the contents strewn across the street.

Despite years of leaving rubbish bags on the street, New Milton residents have decided they are fed up with the old system and have called for the New Forest District Council to deliver wheelie bins.

Residents have complained animals, including seagulls, rip open the bags before the binmen arrive and leave rubbish strewn everywhere.

Brian Keen, 74, said: "My wife and I and other people cover the bags with sheets and put them in dustbins to stop seagulls getting at them but the dustmen come along and collect all the bags and put them together in a big heap. 

"The seagulls and other animals then attack the black bags and rip them apart. Quite often on a Wednesday morning, I go round and pick up the rubbish and it just gets annoying."

Brian has blamed the council for cutting costs on the quality of the bin bags which have become thinner over the years. 

He also suggested that although the council has promised wheelie bins, it has continued to be delayed. 

Brian said: "Over the years, they've saved money and the black bags have got thinner and thinner and they're easy to break now. 

"They now have to spend more money to play catch up."

He said the dustmen collecting the bin bags into a pile should arrive at the same time as the dustbin truck to avoid the issue, as they are currently appearing half an hour before the truck. 

A spokesperson for New Forest District Council said: "The use of wheeled bins will significantly reduce litter from split waste sacks due to gull and other animal interest.  Food waste, that can attract scavengers, will be collected in a separate brown caddy, and not mixed with other rubbish in a sack.

"We currently plan to introduce wheeled bins in 2025/26 in a phased approach across the New Forest area.

"In the meantime, we ask residents to consider putting out their waste as close to their collection time as possible."