Labour-run council spends almost £10k on pavement bin crackdown

A Labour-run council has shelled out almost £10,000 on a scheme tackling the "significant obstruction" of bins being left out on pavements. Derby City Council launched the six-month pilot scheme in March, with officials citing growing local frustration about a loss of access on the city's residential roads. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request published on the local authority's website revealed that £9,176 was spent on the scheme, with offending households handed fines and 299 warnings.

Ndukwe Onuoha, cabinet member for streetpride, parks and leisure, said the pilot had been "highly encouraging" with a 93% compliance rate by the end of the designated period. "We've listened to residents' concerns about the significant problems caused by bins being left out on pavements," he said.

"It creates an obstruction for pedestrians, including those with mobility issues and parents with pushchairs," he told the BBC.

"It can also result in overturned bins, which leads to unsightly mess and can attract vermin.

"To tackle this issue, the council launched a successful six-month pilot scheme focused on nine city streets.

"The results were highly encouraging - a 93% compliance rate was achieved by the end of the six months.

"We are currently evaluating the pilot's full findings, which will inform our future work to keep Derby's streets clean and safe."

It follows backlash during the summer over "unreliable" bin collections in the East Midlands city, with the council blaming "significant" staffing issues for a failure to collect garden waste from over 300 streets.

Local officials apologised for the inconvenience which some attributed to "lots of staff [being] on holiday".

Mr Onuoha told Derbyshire Live: "We aim to deliver a reliable and efficient waste collection service for all our residents, and we currently carry out over 140,000 waste collections every week. The vast majority of residents have their bins emptied on time.

"When bins aren't collected, the delays are often due to factors such as access being blocked from parked vehicles, seasonal pressure, staffing/fleet and other operational challenges. These issues are not unique to Derby and are also experienced by councils across the country."