[WillowTheWhisp]

Yesterday our recyclabes were collected, or not, as the case may be. We are told to "present them at the edge of the property" which basically means at the garden gate.

Yesterday we had several items all full - a blue sack, a blue box, a white sack, a green bag and a pile of cardboard. The options were to stack them all on top of each other making it a precarious pile, stack them next to each other with some out on the pavement causing an obstruction or stack them next to each other with some further inside the garden than others. We chose the latter option which seemed the most sensible.

The blue sack, blue box and white sack were emptied. The cardboard was removed. The green bag was left behind. Could that perhaps have been because it was the furthest in and that by the time they came for it if the others had already gone it was deemed not to be "presented at the edge of the property"?

I could be wrong but I suspect that if we'd left it out on the pavement and someone had fallen over it we would have been liable for any injuries sustained - not to mention the fact that doing so makes life difficult for people in electric wheelchairs and mothers with prams, a point which is raised many times when shops are told they may not have those little advertising boards outside on the pavement.

Would it really have been beyond the collectors to have put one foot on the garden path in order to pick it up?

Now I have phoned the council this morning to let them know it is still here and I have been asked to leave it out there for the next 24-48 hours and someone will come back for it. 48 hours? Imagine what would happen if I put my rubbish out 48 hours in advance! I'd be in trouble for having it out on the wrong day wouldn't I?

Not to mention the fact that it's a very flimsy bag and very full and is very likely to get ripped over the next 48 hours.