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OAP fury as council refuses to get rubbish
AN 85-YEAR-OLD pensioner living in remote Westerdale has hit out at Scarborough Council after he claims it refused to collect his rubbish, forcing him to drive a mile-and-a-half to the nearest bin.
Grandparent George Booth and his wife Heather (77) of Hawthorn Farm say they are fed up with making the weekly trek in their car to put the rubbish in their friend’s bin at a nearby farm.
The pair can’t understand why Scarborough Council can’t drive along the asphalt road to their farm – which is a mile from the road end – like other vehicles do, including a county council minibus which collects his grandchildren who live nearby, council gritters and oil delivery drivers.
With Mr Booth’s eyesight detoriating, he worries he soon won’t be able to drive and his rubbish will pile up.
The couple have lived on the farm for 20 years since they retired and have never had a bin supplied by the council.
He said: “I rang them up and said I’m 85 and soon we won’t be able to take the rubbish.
“The council said they can supply the bins but they won’t bring them down to the farm and they won’t collect them. They said there’s nowhere to turn round.
“There is nowhere safe to put a bin at the road end.
“The county council says it isn’t even a road but it built the road. The council snow plough does the road right down to the farm, they come salting it.
“We’ve had to maintain the road ourselves but we keep asking them to do it. There are lots of potholes in it. It’s either a road or isn’t a road.
“I’ve written dozens of letters and I’ve been to council meetings but I’ve ended up walking out.”
Mr Booth and his wife, who were both dairy farmers before their retirement, pay 1,799 per year in council tax but say they can’t see what they get for their money.
Mrs Booth added she is worried all the time.
“We’re not getting anything for our money. It’s gone up 12.5%.
“George has been poorly this year.
“My father bought me this place and then he left me it. I don’t really want to leave.
“I don’t want to go into Castleton, there’s too much traffic about.
“When you have been used to the country you don’t want to move.”
A spokeswoman for Scarborough Council said the authority is looking into why Mr Booth can’t have his refuse collected.
And a spokeswoman for North Yorkshire County Council said no-one was available for comment and the officer who has dealt with the issue is on leave.
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Weather for Whitby
Saturday 04 February 2012
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