Elderly man attempted to get himself arrested after council failed to empty his bin

An elderly man from Erith in south east London reported himself to the police as he threatened to fly-tip after Bexley Council had allegedly failed to empty his bin. John Mayne, 77, has spoken about his anger of having to go to extreme lengths to ensure his bin was emptied – five days after it should have been. The latest Bexley bin collection was meant to take place on November 13.



Despite telling the council that he was going to ‘bring a shovel and broom’ to chuck his rubbish on the street, he also rang the police, in the hope that they would arrest him. Mr Mayne said: “The final straw for me came when my bin should’ve been emptied on November 13 but by Wednesday morning (November 18), still, nothing had been done. I rang the council asking why my bin had been left and they told me they would empty it on Thursday. I was so fed up that I told them ‘I am going to bring a shovel and broom to offload my rubbish on the road.

“I phoned the police on the 101 line and said that I was going to commit the act of fly-tipping – they didn’t really know what to say because they probably thought I was a nutter.” After Mr Mayne’s threats, Serco, the company who empty Bexley bins, collected his rubbish at around 6.30pm on Wednesday evening. Bexley Council should empty residents’ bins every fortnight but allegedly failed to empty Mr Mayne's for nearly an extra week. He added: “They came round to my house like thieves in the night to empty my bin because they didn’t want to see me. The whole situation has left me bleeding livid – I’ve been treated like an idiot.



“My wife is concerned for my health and she’s even told me that I’m going to have a stroke if I don’t calm down. I’m going to be 78 in a couple of weeks so I should not have to resort to threatening to fly tip just so I can have a service, which I pay for, completed.” Mr Mayne pays £27-a-year to have his 250 litre bin emptied. A Bexley Council spokesman said: “Unfortunately operational issues did mean that our contractor missed some collections in Erith. This was sorted out as quickly as possible and collections will be made on the scheduled day. There is no excuse for fly-tipping and fly-tippers will be prosecuted.”