Devizes Town Council has rejected any notion that it will pay for replacement litter bins.

The council has been concerned about the condition of litter bins, owned and maintained by Wiltshire Council, for some time. In a report to the town council’s planning committee on July 15, officers said that when a bin is no longer functional, Wiltshire Council’s policy is to replace it with a standard freestanding generic green bin.

Town council officers contacted Devizes Area Board manager Richard Rogers to ask if a grant would be available for such work and were told that a grant would be dependent on match funding by the town council.

Town and Wiltshire councillor Peter Evans said maintaining litter bins should be the sole responsibility of Wiltshire Council, and his fellow town councillors agreed.

He said: “I would be totally against the town council subsidising the bins. It’s up to Wiltshire Council to repair the good they have left to rot away.”