Binmen barricaded by angry neighbours after refusing to pick up backlog of rubbish

 

By Paul Sims
15th August 2008

After industrial action left them without a rubbish collection for a month, the families of Birks Road were delighted to see the council lorry finally arrive.

But their relief turned to anger when the binmen announced that, while they would empty the households' wheelie bins, they would not take any loose bags which had piled up.

Two weeks later, they were still refusing to take away all the rubbish. And at this point, the quiet cul-de-sac in Huddersfield suddenly became a street under siege.

Protest: Residents of Birks Road with a trapped bin lorry behind them

One man parked his car across the street, preventing the lorry from getting out. Others formed a human chain around the truck while a group of children sat in front of it and refused to move.

Finally, after a two-hour stand-off, the binmen agreed to take all the rubbish and tranquillity was restored to Birks Road.

'People power worked,' said 30-year-old Mark Copley, whose car became the barricade.

'I'm just delighted it finished peacefully and with the situation resolved.'

Mother-of-two Rebecca Jones, 30, said families had become increasingly frustrated after Tory-run Kirklees Council switched to fortnightly rubbish collections five months ago.

Then, when the council announced its workers were taking strike action on July 16, they braced themselves for the worst.

As normal, their rubbish was collected on July 2 but because of the intervening walkout it was July 30 before the binmen returned  -  and refused to take the loose bags.

Householders complained to the council, which offered to send a 'rapid response' vehicle to collect the extra rubbish but it never arrived.

Understandably, tempers were running high by Wednesday of this week. Mrs Jones, a full-time carer, said: 'The lorry didn't turn up until the afternoon, at around 1.30pm  -  they're supposed to come at 7.15am.

'So, we had already been phoning that day to see were they were.

'When they arrived the three binmen refused to take our bin bags so we offered to put them in the back of the lorry ourselves but they weren't having any of it.'

Eventually, a rapid-response vehicle from the council arrived to collect the excess waste.

But that was not the end of the saga. 'A guy in a shirt and tie appeared and said, "To teach you a lesson we are not emptying the bins in the street", so we formed a human chain around the lorry,' said Mrs Jones.

'Finally, one of the men said they would clear the rubbish if we moved, so we did and they kept to their word.

'If they had picked up the rubbish at the start it would never have come to this.

'This could have been resolved weeks ago if they had just been reasonable.'

A council spokesman said the binmen had acted properly. 'The collection crews always do their best to collect everyone's waste.

'Individual residents can sometimes become agitated and frustrated, and the aim of the crew is to deal with such situations calmly, listen to residents' concerns and then get the job of collecting everyone's refuse and emptying everyone's bins done.

'This incident was quickly resolved, in line with what we would expect of our collection crews. All the refuse was collected.

'We always respond to any calls we receive from householders.'