MELKSHAM Close residents have been feeling a bit down in the dumps this week after rubbish collectors refused to empty most of their bins because they were too full.

The street was one of many affected by new changes introduced from Swindon Borough Council last week which included moving their collection day from Tuesday to Wednesday.

But as a result, many have seen stickers put on their bins by collectors stating that they would not take them because the lid was slightly open.

Sarah Francis, 41 who is a full time carer to her husband Jonathan, said the street has never had a problem before with extra waste being taken away and so this came as a complete shock.

“The system they had seemed to work fine before,” she said. “Even when we had the bin partially open, they would still take it but for some reason they have decided to put these stickers on the bins.

“We only put general waste into the black bins and everything that can be recycled we put in our separate bins.”

After complaining to the council, Sarah and Jonathan were told that they must take their rubbish to the tip as the bin men wouldn’t be back until their next collection – two weeks away.

Jonathan, 48, who is registered disabled, added: “For some unknown reason they have also ticked the box on the sticker to say it is too heavy to lift but they only have to drag it to the lorry which my wife did from the front door. We just want our bins emptied and at the end of the day, they changed the day so they created the problem.”

As part of the changes the council is also asking residents to sort and separate their recycled waste in their boxes to help crews deal with waste more efficiently at the kerbside.

For some households, the collection days for garden waste will no longer be the same as for their refuse and recycling and these new route changes are expected to save the council £300k every year.

Delivery driver Scott Marchant, 28, believes the rubbish should be taken as part of their council tax payment regardless of whether the bin is open slightly.

“My bin must have been open half an inch at most and I had a sticker put on mine which is a joke,” he said.

“At Christmas I take my extra waste from wrapping paper to the tip myself but why should I put my two-week old soaking wet black bags into the back of my car when I pay for it to be done in my council tax?”

Swindon Borough Council have since sent a crew out to collect the rubbish and thanked the residents for their patience during the implementation of new changes.

A spokesman added: “We would expect our crews to use their discretion while the changes are introduced, particularly when some households may have accumulated extra waste between collection days.”