Plastic plant pot "health and safety hazard for dustmen."

Colchester Council, a Lib Dem/Labour coalition, has been criticised by a grandmother for their refuse collection policy. Diana Angel left out a sack of rubbish with a plastic plant pot and a broken dustpan and brush only to find it ripped open and left behind. She was sent a letter telling her it constituted bulky waste and she would have to pay £30 to have it removed.

Cllr Tim Young, a Labour councillor and the Cabinet Member for Waste, says the items "were considered a hazard" and "it might have been dangerous for the refuse collectors to take them away."

He's just become a spokesman for the council officers, hasn't he? He's been swallowed whole.  He's not really in control. This is what he should have said: "I'm very sorry, Mrs Angel. What happened was absurd. I have given instructions that this sort of incident should never happen again."