VOLUNTEERS who give up their time to keep a village play area clean and tidy are angry that Wiltshire Council has stopped collecting the rubbish they collect.

Team leader Katie Thorp, who has been emptying bins in Goddards play area in Aldbourne for four years, is upset that the council has stopped collecting the filled sacks.

Mrs Thorp said: "It is a pretty unsavoury job especially when the weather is hot and the bins are full to over flowing with some pretty disgusting things - dirty nappies and open dog poo bags.

"The bin bags are heavy too. We drag the full bin bags to the end of a path passed by the bin lorry working around the Crooked Corner area of the village on the household refuse day.

"All the bin men had to do, and did, was to pick them up and throw them into the back of the lorry. That has now stopped.

"The bin men have been told to leave them which is illogical and devoid of all common sense."

But a spokesman for Wiltshire Council said collecting the bins was not its responsibility. He said: "We are happy to support adhoc litter picks in villages but if it is a regular event the parish council should be paying for a commercial collection."

Parish clerk Karen Clay said: "For the last nine years Wiltshire Council has collected litter cleared from the Goddards play area in Aldbourne where it was left in bin bags at the top of The Green.

"This was collected on a bi-weekly basis at the same time as the wheelie bins were emptied. At one time Wiltshire Council used to even supply their own bags for this litter to be collected.

"Recently though the bags of litter stopped being collected. When the parish council queried this they were advised that the waste was commercial, and thus the council would have to pay for its removal.

"The parish council wrote to Councillor Jane Scott and their local MP Claire Perry, but there was no change in stance from Wiltshire Council.

"The parish council are now waiting for Councillor Jerry Wickham to attend their meeting on October 7 to discuss the matter with him."