Last updated at 12:00, Thursday, 07 February 2013

Residents are celebrating after Copeland Council performed a U-turn on plans to make them lug their rubbish a mile and a half up the road to be collected.

After the residents’ plight featured in newspapers earlier this week, Copeland decided the collections at Annaside, Kiskin and Hyton will avoid the planned £120,000 cuts to the service and remain as they are.

The move would have meant householders from 14 homes taking their bins on a three-mile round trip to the junction of Church Lane, Bootle, to be emptied by the council.

Farmer Deryck Fell, of Annaside, said: “It’s great they’re going to do that. But I don’t know why they wanted to make the changes in the first place. They didn’t consult us properly.”

As well as the logistical problems of transporting the bins to the collection point, residents had raised concerns that the number of bins, traffic and narrow roads could have led to accidents.

Councillor Allan Holliday, portfolio holder for the environment and sustainability, said the council had now organised a “mutually acceptable” alternative with the residents. He said: “We are facing unprecedented funding cuts, and as a result have reviewed all of the services we provide, including waste collection.

“However in this instance, we’ve listened.”

A Copeland Borough Council spokeswoman confirmed there was no way to implement the policy.

First published at 11:59, Thursday, 07 February 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk