Hinckley: Big bin scheme rolled out in Leicestershire district

The council said bookings of big bins were "coming thick and fast"

Wheelie bins across the country are overflowing after Christmas, but one council has come up with a solution - bigger bins.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council is hiring out big bins, which are about four times the size of a standard one.

The authority says the bins, which it delivers to and collects from peoples' homes, are an alternative to skip hire.

The service was launched just before Christmas and is the first of its kind in Leicestershire, the council said.

Lisa Rees, the council's clean neighbourhoods and car parks manager, said: "We want to help residents to get rid of additional waste that they couldn't put into the bins we have already supplied.

"Instead of perhaps hiring a skip, they could hire one of our bins to be delivered to their properties.

"We want people to look at them as a bigger version of their black bin - they can't put things like construction or hazardous waste in them."

She added: "The bookings are coming thick and fast. We'd hoped for 16 a week. We are getting way more than that and January is looking really busy as people are thinking of having a clear out after Christmas."

A 1,100 litre bin costs costs £60 a week to hire and 660 litre versions cost £50.

Lynda Hodgkins, the council's executive member for neighbourhood services, said: "This what people need for 'the in between', when they don't need a huge skip on their driveway but have too much waste for their normal bins."

She says she hopes the new bins will cut fly-tipping by unlicensed operators who offer to remove people's excess rubbish illegally.