A FATHER is having to act as a binman after refuse collectors refused to empty his wheelie bin.

Gerald Bamfield, of Saddleton Road, Whitstable, has two black wheelie bins that he inherited when he moved into his house three years ago.

But under the new rubbish collection rules, only one bin is being emptied per household, leaving him with a full bin and nowhere to store his refuse.

He now has no choice but to take it to the tip in order to make room for the rubbish that will be generated by the family before the next collection in a fortnight.

Mr Bamfield said: "I think it is illogical and stupid. The council say they sent me a letter about it but the first I knew that only one bin would be emptied was on Monday morning when the binmen told me. They marched up my drive, gave me a printed card and said I wasn’t allowed two bins.

"Even though the rubbish truck was still there they refused to empty the second one, even just this once to allow me to start afresh with one empty bin. I was gobsmacked."

Mr Bamfield, who has two children, said he was aware of the alternate weekly collection system after reading about it in ther Whitstable Gazette but said he has not received any official confirmation from the council.

He said. "I have been using both since we moved here and no one has told me otherwise.

I accept we can probably manage with one bin, even with the alternate collections, but to do that I have to find some way of emptying it first."

Council spokesman Rob Davies said the new rules were to encourage people to recycle more.

"There is no incentive to recycle if we carry on emptying two bins per household," he said. "Large families who have been assessed by our officers might qualify for two bins but as there are only four people in Mr Bamfield’s family this does not apply.

"He will have to take his rubbish to a civic amenity site. If he wants advice on how to recycle more our staff are happy to help and he or anyone else can contact them on 01227 862247."