Elderly couple paid £40 for their bin to be emptied just once...

Muriel and Samuel Kearns' brown-lidded bin was refused just weeks after paying £40 to Coventry City Council



A Coventry woman said her elderly parents paid Coventry City Council to have their brown-lidded bin collected just once. Linda Kearns purchased a garden waste subscription for the pair in April.

Linda paid £40 for the yearly service on April 5 but was unaware it would end just a month later on May 31. Parents Muriel and Samuel, who are in their 80s, only had their garden waste bin emptied once before the subscription abruptly ended.

Her family had fallen victim to a loophole whereby the subscription ends on the same day each year, regardless of when it was purchased. Linda said they had to fork out another £40 to renew the subscription in July.

Speaking to CoventryLive, Linda, 55, said: “It came to that time of year that we went and tidied the garden up for them. We realised then that their green waste bin had run out, so we went straight away online and reordered it, and did not realise there was only one collection left for the year.”

Linda said that just weeks later, their bin was refused, and they had to pay another £40 to Coventry City Council. She fumed: “How can that be right?”

“I just felt that my parents had money stolen off them, these are people that have always paid their way, but they are not rich people, they are just hard-working people that have paid their dues all their lives, then that happens, and it is just wrong.”

CoventryLive contacted Coventry City Council, who apologised to the Kearn family but said the T&Cs were 'clearly displayed.' Permits are only valid from June 1 to May 31.

I bet they vote, too!