Dave Bresnahan, a resident of Bosden Farm near Hazel Grove, was left baffled after a binman was caught on his doorbell camera walking up to his front door, taking his bin down the drive, flipping the lid, and walking away. Mr Bresnahan said it had never happened before in his 25 years living on the borough.
Resident describes the incident
Mr Bresnahan told the Manchester Evening News: “I had just gone down to the shops. We have had all this chaos about the bins all over Stockport. It’s been going on and on and on and everyone has got absolutely fed up.
“What happened was I put the bin out and I had been away for a few days. I came back that morning and I thought I would only put the black bin out because the rest weren’t full.”
He added: “I went to the shop to get some milk and the blue bin was out. I thought that was a bit strange. I thought maybe the neighbour had put it out.”
Council explains the mistake
A Stockport Council spokesperson said the staff member involved made a mistake thinking the property was receiving an assisted bin collection. It is understood a flipped bin can be used as an indicator that a property receives an assisted collection. Assisted bin collection is a service where crews will retrieve the bin, empty it and return it for those who might struggle.
However, Mr Bresnahan’s other bins were not collected, and the blue and black bins were still on the street when he came back. Mr Bresnahan told the Manchester Evening News: “I have lived here for 25 years and never before has the bin man ever come up to the front door.
“For some reason, he opened the bin lid and they emptied it. Normally if they open your bin lid, that means they are not going to take it.
“It just seems to be bizarre. It seems like they have gone from one extreme to another.”
Context of recent bin controversies
Mr Bresnahan is referring to the recent controversial enforcement by Stockport Council of a long-standing policy around collecting bins which have the lids open. The council has acknowledged the operational decision was not properly communicated after hundreds of people were left with uncollected bins. The council has said the change was due to manufacturer’s guidance and the policy is there to protect bin crews. Previously there has been at least one incident where a bin man was seriously injured while on the job.
A spokesperson for the council previously said: “Like many waste collection services, the policy is in place to help keep our collection crews safe while they’re carrying out their work. Bins that are overfilled or have lids left open can present health and safety risks when they’re moved and emptied.
“We remain focused on delivering a safe and reliable service for residents across the borough.”
However, Mr Bresnahan said: “They do not know from one moment to the next what they are doing. There’s no rhyme or reason to it.
“What they need is a note saying we have messed this up and we need to sort it out. It’s never been an issue.”
A spokesperson for Stockport Council said: “Our crews carry out more than 175,000 assisted bin collections each year for residents who are unable to move their bins themselves. On this occasion, the crew member believed the property was receiving an assisted collection and moved the bin out for collection.”
