A MUM was left shocked after being told to put her broken recycling box in the bin because the kerb side box for glass and tin cannot be recycled.

Harriet Jany of Eastern Avenue, Chippenham and when her black recycling box lid needed replacing she went to Wiltshire Council to make the request.

She was given a new box and lid set, despite only needing the lid.

When asked where to put the old box, Wiltshire Council told her to dump it in the main waste bin as they would not pick it up to recycle.

She said: “Given the pressure to reduce plastic waste I thought this was dreadful and really ironic as it’s a recycling box.

"I was shocked by this answer because given the issues with plastic waste at the moment and pressures to change that was bad advice.

"I contacted them by phone and Twitter and they maintained that their stance was to throw it away. It's a waste of taxpayers money.”

Plans were later put in place for the collection to be made, but the box has not yet been taken away.

However Wiltshire Council have since confirmed that it is posisble for the boxes ot be recycled.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “If a black box recycling bin is broken it can be recycled. People can take it to their local household recycling centre where it can be placed in the rigid plastics section.

"Alternatively, we can also arrange for a broken bin to be collected by our team.”