Plan B Forum

Council jobsworths refused to help a frail pensioner dispose of her television, saying they would break health and safety rules if they carried it from her house.

Charlotte Cubitt, 85, from Colchester, Essex, decided to get rid of her old television and was ready to pay an £11 charge to have the council collect it because it was far too heavy for her to take to the dump.

But she was shocked when she was told that if she wanted the TV to be collected she would have to drag it to the kerbside herself because of health and safety concerns for council workers.

She said: 'They told me I would have to put the TV outside my house because health and safety concerns prevented the men from carrying it out of the house.

'I have seen these men and they are generally quite hefty and are employed because of their ability to handle heavy sacks of rubbish.

'Countless times I have watched a man pick up five or six black bags - sometimes even more - and then stagger across the road to the assembly point.

'What would be the risk of taking a TV from my house to carry it a couple of yards to sit on the kerb to await collection?'

Officials from Colchester Borough Council told Mrs Cubitt to ask her neighbours if they were willing to carry the heavy old television.

But Mrs Cubitt was outraged that the council was prepared to let someone else do their work.

She said: 'Would I be responsible if the neighbour suffered an injury?

'I don't understand it because the council must have insurance that would cover them, although I think it unlikely someone would be hurt carrying a television out to the road.'

Colchester Council was involved in another 'elf 'n' safety row in February when its workers were banned from taking rubbish out of dustbins.

Bill Craig, 80, used a wheelie bin to help him carry one small black bag of rubbish to the end of his drive.

But the council left him a warning note saying he was using the wrong kind of container for his rubbish.

Officials told a bemused Mr Craig that bin men could no longer lean in to the wheelie bin to take away the black bag in case they injured themselves.

Astonishingly, the council planned to pay for a specialist team to go to the former fisherman's semi-detached house in West Mersea, Essex, to collect the rubbish instead.

Martin Hunt, council deputy leader and Street and Waste Services Portfolio Holder, said: 'Colchester Borough Council provides a collection service for unwanted, large household items, including electricals, for a small charge.

'Electrical and electronic waste collected is sent for recycling.

'The council requires items to be left for collection clearly at the front boundary of the property by 7am on the morning of the collection date.

'However for residents with physical or other limitations who are unable to place items at their property boundary, the council will collect the item from a suitable agreed collection point outside the property but within the property boundary that can be used instead.

'This is in line with the assisted collection service provided for the council’s other recycling and rubbish collections.

'The council is unable to collect items from inside the property because of possible insurance claims against the council.

'The council considers it the responsibly of the resident or their family to take the item to the agreed collection location.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1OXCUaJrm

'The council is unable to collect items from inside the property because of possible insurance claims against the council.

Gob wrote:It has to do with the world you live in Scoot, where dustbinmen cannot shift a TV for an old age pensioner due to "liability concerns."

Some of us would prefer not to live in that workld.