Everyone knows it’s cheaper to buy in bulk, but it can lead to some unforeseen problems.

For example, where exactly do you keep 40,000 man-sized wheelie bins?

That’s the perplexing problem facing Maidstone councillors after rising prices forced them to buy the entire stock of wheelie bins needed for their new recycling service in one go.

The council had originally planned to buy the bins in three phases, but realised they had no time to lose when the going price for a single plastic 190 litre bin shot up from £12.92 to more than £17.

The cause? The rising price of oil - which is used to make plastic - and increasing demand, created by Eastern Europe’s apparently insatiable appetite for plastic bins.

Rising demand also means the delivery will not only arrive over budget, but later than originally planned.

This means Phase 2 of the scheme, which will see new bins delivered to households in urban areas of the borough, has been put back from October 2008 to March 2009, while Phase 3 - in which the remaining bins are delivered - will follow in May.

Despite this, Maidstone council’s cabinet member for environment Cllr Mark Wooding (Con) - who authorised the decision to make the snap bulk purchase last Wednesday - said there was “no negative” to the situation.

He said: “There isn’t a negative because it’s enabled us to properly consult people rather than roll ahead; we’re going to deal with potential consequences before we roll out.”

Speaking while on holiday, he said he did not yet know where the extra thousands of bins would be stored, but said his urgent decision had been entirely justified.

He said: “We wanted to safe-guard tax payer’s money, so the general feeling was to buy them all in one go.”

And he said the council would not struggle to meet the one-off bulk payment, adding: “The money’s always been in the budget - what we’re doing is reducing the cost.

“Had the previous administration been that committed to recycling they could have bought the bins before and we could have saved money.”