Southampton City Council to fine residents for leaving wheelie bins out too long

City Council bosses have quietly brought in on-the-spot fines larger than for other offences such as flytipping, being drunk and disorderly, vandalism, speeding, shoplifting and harassment.

Failure to pay up may result in higher fines or imprisonment and in other parts of the country offenders have been fined as much as £550.

Last year the Daily Echo revealed how council chiefs were arming binmen with hand-held computers to log details of residents who put their bins out on the wrong day, fail to recycle properly or put out too much rubbish.

Southampton City Council last night claimed bins were a dangerous hazard, blocking walkways for the elderly, people in wheelchairs and parents with prams.

Anti-council tax campaigners described the council’s wheelie bin crackdown as “heavy-handed”, while local residents’ associations welcomed attempts to clear the city’s pavements.

So far only one resident has received a fixed penalty notice since the scheme began, but many more homes have received warning letters in recent weeks.

A Bevois Town resident told the Echo how he returned home last Thursday to discover he had been threatened with the three-figure fine.

The flyer had been posted through the letterbox of his Castle Street home in the middle of the day and just 24 hours after his rubbish had been collected.

“Moving them a few metres behind the little fence at the front of our house is not a problem and I can see why bins should be kept off the pavement,”

the 28-year-old said.

“But to threaten us with £100 for leaving them outside our house is going too far. Especially as bin men leave them there and we might not be home for a long time to put them away.”

A council spokesman said bins were allowed to be placed on the pavement the evening before collection day, but must be taken in as soon as is “reasonably practicable”

after collection.

The fines will be issued and sent to the first person the council officer speaks to at the property.

Christine Melsom, chairman of anti-council tax group IsItFair, said the rules were far too stringent and said many workers wouldn’t be able to comply.

“This seems heavy-handed. It is just another way of making money and it makes life difficult for everybody, especially if they go out to work,” she said.

“I know it looks a mess if people leave them out continually, but I would have thought those who can’t put them out to the minute that the council wants them to should be able to phone the council and explain their situation.”

Peter Wirgman, chairman of the Southampton Federation of Residents’ Association, said: “It sounds a bit harsh, but leaving bins out in some areas causes not only an obstruction, they are also a target for drunks.”

Jerry Gillen, chairman of the Highfield Residents’ Association, added: “If you are a persistent, inconsiderate offender, and there is no reason for the bin to be left out, then some sanction needs to be taken.

“But I think if the bin men could put the bins back on to the property, if there is somewhere to put them, then that seems to be the most straightforward answer.”

Some homes that do not have space to store their bins are permitted to leave them on the pavement, as long as they don’t cause a nuisance.

If they are considered a safety risk, residents are being ordered to store their bins in the back garden and to place their rubbish bags on the pavement on collection day.

Councillor Andrew Trayer, Southampton’s waste boss, claimed the city council operates an “education first” policy when it came to bins.

He said the Polygon and Portswood areas, which both have large student populations, had been targeted after more bins than usual were being left on pavements and walkways.

“The council has had the power to fine residents for two years now.

However, it is not something we need to use often and we will avoid fining people unless absolutely necessary,” he said.

“When we have sent letters to residents, or talked to them about our concerns, we have been very pleased with the reaction and have not needed to dish out fines.”

The revelation comes just a week after the Daily Echo reported on plans for Southampton residents to be rewarded with shopping vouchers for recycling, measured by microchips put into every bin in the city.

However, privacy campaigners warned that it could open the door to people being fined for how much waste they throw out.