Pebsham dog bins row

By: Camilla Lake

They say the bins are overflowing with bags of waste dumped by drivers or pedestrians with dogs.

Peter Letchford of Pebsham Lane claims the bins have been left for a fortnight on at least three occasions although they should be emptied every Wednesday morning.

He also thinks more dog refuse bins are needed in the area and that the one outside his house should be positioned on the public highway rather than in a private lane.

Peter, 76, is a countryman who grew up in Staplehurst and worked on farms but nothing in that past life prepared him for the smell of dog refuse piled into a bin in hot weather.

He said: "It's a bit of a fiasco really.

"People come along and see that the bin is filled up, but they jam their bag in there.

"People have got no sense at all though, if they can't jam it in they just throw it behind, or in the hedge."

Doreen Mills of The Briary was encouraged when a second dog bin was brought in to join the first but both were overflowing by the end of a week with dog walkers leaving bags on the side.

She added: "Now we have two bins overflowing and it doesn't help when people are putting big bags of soiled cat litter in their too. It would seem that dog bins are now being emptied once a fortnight - or were we missed last week?"

Rother's contract services officer Alan Dodge said the bins should be emptied every week by Verdant which provides waste collection for the Council, "whatever that entails".

He said; "As far as we are aware it should have happened - if it hasn't we will need to find out why.

"The situation is the bins are programmed to be emptied weekly, and if they haven't then obviously something has not gone right."

There are 108 dog refuse bins in Bexhill, and Rother also provides them across the entire district as an addition to the ones provided by local parishes.