Council chiefs say they are now examining the results of their no-bin experiment in central Canterbury this summer.

In the wake of rioting elsewhere in England, the council removed all the bins from the main shopping street in the city for fear they would be used as weapons if civil disorder erupted here.

When it did not, the council left the central shopping street clear of bins for several weeks before replacing them.

Cllr Rosemary Doyle, the member for the environment, told a meeting of the council's ruling Tory executive on Thursday night: "Our experiment generated a gratifying amount of interest and we are now generating the results.

"It was interesting to hear the reaction and we are now going to look at what the optimum use of waste bins is in the future."

The no-bin experiment divided opinion.

Some like Steve Bamber, chairman of the Canterbury market traders, believe the city centre looked tidier without the bins.

But others like Alex Perkins, the leader of the Lib Dem opposition group on the council, did not agree. "Just put the bins back," he said at a council meeting this summer when the city was free of bins.

And some even felt there were not enough bins in the city.

At present, the council has restored all the bins to the central shopping street of Canterbury from the Westgate Towers to the St George's Clocktower.

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