ANGRY town folk have expressed their fury at the removal of a bin in Malmesbury after Wiltshire Council deemed it illegal.

The wheelie bin, intended for litter and dog waste, was the idea of teenager Ben Thornbury and neighbour Julie Taylor who volunteer tidy up the streets.

It was put on Snell Avenue on October 20 and was only there for four weeks before Wiltshire Council told them they had to bin it because was no waste licence for it.

Julie and Ben had decided to put an unused household recycling bin which could be used to put dog waste and other rubbish in to avoid littering.

Andy Parks, of Filands View, said: “Every resident was extremely happy with the temporary bin being put on Snell Avenue.

“I’m unhappy about the decision from Wiltshire Council to remove the bin that was used so much.

“A licence to empty a bin? I understand needles could be in it but all the volunteers had to do was take the bin bag out and put it by another public dog waste bin for it to be taken away by council officials.”

Ben, 14, added: “Julie and myself had the idea to place the bin there to help out the residents of Filands. They greatly appreciated it as there were no bins on the new estate. We had the pleasure of emptying the bin every weekend and it was getting used so much and was half way full every week.

“We thought we were doing a great job until we received an email from the Wiltshire Council saying we need a licence to empty waste and the bin would have to be removed because it’s illegal. To make sure we weren’t causing trouble we removed the bin straight away.

“We were only trying to do a good job and residents appreciated us trying.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman told them: “Unfortunately there is legislation in place that prevents this sort of activity.

“By the letter of the law anyone who collects/transports waste requires a waste carriers licence to move waste if it has not been produced by them.

“As an example, if your neighbour is making a trip to their local household recycling centre and they offer to take some rubbish for you, they are acting illegally.

“Wiltshire Council and its contractors need this licence to enable us to empty litter bins or empty domestic wheelie bins.

“Whilst I appreciate that you and your fellow volunteers are trying to improve the environment in which you live you cannot carry on with these activities and the bin in Filands needs to be removed.”