A council’s policy to always charge households for replacement waste bins is to be scrapped.

Since April, Maidstone council has adopted the policy that residents are responsible for their waste bins and that they should pay for any replacements if they are lost or damaged.

The policy has angered many householders forced to pay £25 for a replacement which, they say, has in many cases been damaged by the council’s own contractors on emptying.

The council had acknowledged that bins very occasionally fall off the lifting bar at the back of the refuse lorry and disappear inside the vehicle to be crushed and never seen again. In those cases, the borough had continued to supply replacements free of charge.

But there are other incidences of damage less serious than total loss.

In June this year, Tim Spencer, from Tarragon Road, Barming, was still asked to pay £25 for a replacement even though his house CCTV showed the lid was broken off his bin by the binmen during emptying.

Cllr Patrick Garten (Con), the cabinet member for environmental services, said there were good reasons why the council was reluctant to provide a new bin just on demand.

Cllr Garten said: “A lot of people were previously changing their bins for vanity reasons. The old one was a bit scuffed or marked, but still perfectly useable.

“Since we introduced charging in April, the number of new bin requests has dropped by about 50% to 580.”

But Cllr Garten admitted the policy had been unpopular.

He said: “We’ve had lots of emails on the topic and we in cabinet have been discussing what would be the best thing to do for several weeks now.”

The solution the council has come up with is to rely on the binmen.

If they become aware that a bin has broken during emptying, or if normal wear and tear means it is no longer able to be safely lifted into the lorry, the binmen will report it and a new one will be provided free.

But Cllr Garten advised that free replacement would not cover lost or stolen bins.

He said: ”My best advice would be for people to paint their name or postcode on their bins.”

Residents can still change their bins if they wish, at a charge of £25, reduced to £15 for those on Universal Credit.

Cllr Garten said the bins sometimes broke because residents overloaded them. A standard 240-litre unit is only designed to take a maximum of 120kg.

Charges were introduced at the suggestion of officers when the council was considering its budget back in March. It was promoted as a means of saving £100,000 a year from the waste collection bill.

Last week, two opposition councillors – Fant and Oakwood Independent Cllr Paul Harper and Green Councillor Stuart Jeffery – had filed a motion calling for the suspension of charges that was to have been discussed at a full council meeting this Wednesday.

Cllr Jeffery said: “This policy was imposed on us without debate or even consultation with councillors.

“It simply shifted the cost of replacing bins to residents, no matter who damaged them. People were rightly angry.”

But council leader David Burton (Con) was keen to deny that the administration’s change of heart had anything to do with the impending motion.

He said: “I had never been comfortable with the principle of charging for broken bins.

“I fully accept that this measure was within the detail of the last budget, that I presented, as a reduction in the waste collection service budget.

“It was implemented as an operational decision. At the time the overarching budget issue to me was focussing upon how to support our staff through the cost-of-living crisis.

“I am aware that the timing of this change may look like a pre-emptive political response to the motion on the agenda for full council but I promise you that it is not.”

The previous situation was absurd

“For me, it is only ever about doing the right thing for our residents.”

A sceptical councillor Cllr Jeffery said: “I think we’ll chalk this up as an Independent and Green win!”

Mr Spencer, who had previously had to pay for his replacement bin, welcomed the news. He said: “My plea for a free replacement bin fell on deaf ears. I was refused despite the video evidence.

“Funnily enough, the binmen also managed to split my brown bin the week after, but I didn't follow that up as I felt too exasperated.

“I am pleased to hear that the council is now taking action. The previous situation was absurd.”

The policy change is effective immediately.