Council refused to collect grandmother's garden waste because weeds had soil on them

A grandmother was left fuming when council workers refused to empty her garden waste bin – claiming it contained too much soil. Kay McIntyre, 74, rang town hall bosses expecting them to apologise. But instead, they sent out an inspector to check the level of dirt and rule on the case. Kay said she was ‘staggered’ at the fuss over whether her weeds were too dirty.

And furious son Andy, who lives on the same street, said: "It’s the lunatics in charge of the asylum. Are we going to be asked to wash our weeds next? This is council taxpayer’s money. That’s why councils are in the mess they are in. There’s someone sitting there thinking of parameters for weeds and soil. It’s utter madness."


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Kay, of Pownall Avenue, Bramhall, had been doing the weeding with the help of her eight-year-old grandson, Jack. She put the remains in her green bin for garden waste and left it out for collection. But she found it was still there, still full – and had a sticker on it from Stockport council reading: "The contents of your wheelie bin are not suitable for collection." When she rang for an explanation, town hall bosses told her she would have to sort through the rubbish by herself.

Kay refused – and the council eventually agreed to send out an inspector to check the amount of soil in the bin. "This inspector actually put her hand in, right down in the bin to check that what I was saying was truthful," said Kay. "She was looking for soil." The council eventually relented – and explained there was a problem with the machine that crunches up garden waste. Binmen were being trained to assess how much soil had been left clinging to residents’ weeds, she was told.