A woman in Buckinghamshire has been left ‘furious’ at her new bin collection route up a muddy footpath.

Karen Yexley, 63, said her bins had been collected from a ‘very safe’ courtyard in the village of Chenies for years.

But changes by Buckinghamshire Council mean that she and her mostly retired neighbours now have to carry their binbags to the roadside on bin day.

The retiree, originally from Essex, said: “We have to take the bags out of bin round to the front along a busy road up a wet, muddy, narrow path.

“Or have bins at the front and take out bags from the bins. I am five foot two and 63, it is impossible for me to get bags out of the bin.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Karen said: “I was desperate for this dangerous solution not to be implemented.”

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She added: “Wheeling bins to an automated lifting mechanism rather than carrying and physically lifting the bags onto the vehicle will reduce musculoskeletal injuries.”

The council’s cabinet member for climate change and environment Thomas Broom said the council had investigated Karen’s complaints and spoken to the residents involved.

He told the LDRS: “Bins are placed at the closest boundary to the highway, which is the policy for every household in the county.

“Unless arrangements are in place for an assisted collection, which the council offers to eligible households such as the elderly or disabled.

“We have also carried out a number of site visits to the property including a risk assessment at the address and we are satisfied that the current bin collection arrangements are safe for the residents at this address.”

The council said the changes to bin collections are in line with its waste policy and do not put residents at risk or mean that they must access a public footpath to dispose of their waste.

But Karen, who worked in banking for 38 years, said that changes on bin day were not the only problem.

The resident, who now works in a garden centre, criticised the behaviour of staff from council contractor Veolia during their collection rounds.

She claimed refuse workers had sworn, broken a gate and thrown bins following a dispute with a neighbour.

Karen said: “Instead of dealing with discipline, they decided to change the way bins are collected, without coming to the site to look at real issues, how this would not work.”

Veolia could not be reached for comment, but the council said: “Previous incidents of crew behaviour were reported and investigated.  This was dealt with appropriately and the resident was given an apology.”

A spokesperson added: “During the complaint investigation highlighted that the current collection point did not adhere to council policy, where bins need to be presented at the boundary nearest to the highway.

“There were several site visits and a risk assessment carried out before this change took place.”