A wheelchair-bound pensioner got so fed up with a council's bin collection he decided to dump it himself!

Dennis Smith, of Ranelagh Road, Sheerness, had put three bags outside his house for collection.

The next day, and the recycling waste was still there - so he reported it to his local Gateway Centre council office on the island.

After several failed attempts to have it picked up, Mr Smith decided to take matters into his own hands.

In his trusty wheelchair, he prepared to take drastic action - and dump the rubbish at the Gateway Centre.

He had to carry the bags one at a time and was prepared to do three separate trips in protest.

When he went in with the first bag, he was told he couldn’t leave the rubbish there and spoke to a member of staff.

He said: “They said I couldn’t leave it there but I said I can and I have got two more bags at home.

“I was worried because I didn’t want it [outside my house] all that time.
“If you put it out on time, you expect it to be taken.”

After his meeting, Mr Smith went home with his bag of rubbish and a promise it would be taken away by 4pm. Council workers arrived just before 3.30pm.

A spokesman for Swale council said it was unclear why it had not been collected the agreed day, but that there had been some confusion as to where the bags should be left to be picked up.

She added: “The gentleman had brought the bags behind his wall instead of leaving them on the highway after ringing to get them collected.

“The bags were back on the customer’s property, and therefore to the operatives there was nothing to collect.

“One of our officers went and spoke to him in person to explain the misunderstanding and apologise for the confusion.”

Mr Smith has now been put on “assisted collection”.