People power

The residents of Birks Road, a quiet Huddersfield cul-de-sac, were delighted when striking binmen went back to work as it had been one month since their rubbish had been collected and it was beginning to pile up.

But delight turned to annoyance as the binmen said they would take the wheelie bins, but not the extra bags which had accumulated as a result of their industrial action.

The residents complained to the local Council who said they would send a ‘rapid response vehicle’ to collect the excess rubbish. Two weeks later this RRV still hadn’t made an appearance but the regular binmen appeared and once again refused to take the extra bin bags. Residents even offered to load the bags into the lorry themselves, but the binmen would have none of it.

Eventually, a rapid response vehicle arrived to collect the excess waste. However, a ‘suit’ appeared on the scene and informed the residents that, to ‘teach them a lesson’, the bins in the street would not be emptied. At this point, the residents decided to take matters into their own hands.

They used cars to barricade the road, formed a human chain around the lorry and children sat in front of the vehicle. No-one was going to budge until the rubbish was taken away.

Two hours later, the lorry crew agreed to take the extra bags and peace and tranquility returned to the cul-de-sac.

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