Sheffield bin workers face 'surge in abuse'

Bin workers in Sheffield have faced "a surge in physical and verbal abuse," according to a waste collection firm.

Veolia said frontline staff reported more than 40 incidents of abuse from members of the public last year.

It released footage of one incident in which recycling workers were confronted for refusing to take extra waste.

Sheffield City Council and Veolia have launched a campaign to stamp out "unacceptable" behaviour towards workers.

Richard Hulland, the company's chief risk and assurance officer for Northern Europe, said: "No-one should be abused simply for doing their job and we're determined to combat this unacceptable trend."

As part of the Streetkind campaign, the company has released footage captured by refuse lorries' CCTV cameras to highlight incidents of abuse.

'Raging man'

In one video, a driver is seen dangerously mounting the pavement in his van to get past a lorry in the street as workers empty bins.

A worker who witnessed it said it had been "scary".

He added: "He's come up right behind me and comes up really close and fast.

"When he came up on the pavement, he came up on a corner so if anybody had been coming round that corner he'd have completely knocked them down."

Another worker told of being pelted with cardboard by a "raging" man because a crew had not taken rubbish which had been left strewn on the ground next to his recycling bin.

Veolia said it was also providing staff training to help workers defuse volatile situations and know when to involve police.

Joe Otten, who chairs the council's Waste and Street Scene Committee, said: "Our workers do an excellent job every day and Streetkind encourages us to show even more appreciation for their efforts.

"We hope through this campaign we can reduce the abuse workers can sometimes receive while delivering critical services for our city and I'm proud to support it."