Gwynedd residents face £100 fines over wrong day bins

Concerns about bins left on streets prompted the policy

Residents who leave their bins out on the wrong days could be fined £100, a council has warned.

The policy, approved by Gwynedd Council on Tuesday, could see repeat offenders given fixed penalty notices if warnings are ignored.

The move follows concerns containers were blocking pavements, causing a safety hazard and were ugly.

The council said it planned to raise awareness about waste and recycling arrangements.

The council said it would work to raise awareness about the problem

This will include Quick Response (QR) codes [barcodes that can be read by smartphones and other devices] on boxes and bins that can give 24-hour reminders of collection days and what can be recycled.

There will be particular focus on Bangor due to the high student population, the authority added.

Fines will be a "last resort", Catrin Wager, portfolio holder for municipal services, told Tuesday's meeting in Caernarfon ahead of a unanimous approval of the policy.

"There have been concerns in some communities for some time about bins and recycling boxes being left out on the street throughout the week, obstructing pavements and generally having a negative effect on how communities look," she said.

"In some areas, bins left out for days after collection can cause a real issue for parents with prams and disabled people, who have to go out into the highway due to bins blocking pavements."

The council said there had been a sharp fall in complaints about bins in Dwyfor since working patterns were changed last July to allocate refuse staff to particular communities.