Families forced to pay fees if wimpy binmen trip on their potholed road despite paying £1,200 a year in council tax
Huntingdon District Council has ordered residents to sign forms claiming responsibility if binmen injure themselves on road
A COUNCIL is forcing families to sign an indemnity form saying they will take responsibility for any injuries its workers suffer collecting BINS from their bumpy road.
Huntingdon District Council (HDC) fears binmen may trip on the 200 yard potholed road, which officials say could also damage refuse trucks.
Council chiefs have told families on the unadopted lane to sign a form accepting responsibility for any mishaps - despite each house already paying £1,200 a year in council-tax.
If residents refuse they will be forced to take all 14 of their wheelie bins to the end of the lane, which the council says is not its responsibility.
Computer engineer Mark Cobourne, who lives his partner Sarah Carter, 49, in a £290,000 four-bedroom townhouse on the road, said: "It's horrendous, probably the worst kept road in Britain.
"There's been talk about this road for years but just recently it's got worse. There's no street lights so when it pours with rain you have to go out in your wellies at 6am to put your bin out.
"Now they want us to drag them to the end of the street? It's nonsensical, just a complete joke.
He added: "I don't see why we should make that commitment when they keep granting planning permission for more homes to be built down here, in turn sending down huge lorries that just ruin the road surface.
"It's a case of common sense and we feel like someone at the local council needs to find some.
"We pay all this money in council tax but I'm struggling to see what for."
Barry Chapman, deputy mayor for St Neots, Cambs., blasted: "This policy is absolutely ludicrous."
"Is the district council really expecting an elderly person to drag their bin 200 yards down a road that they have decided is too dangerous for a refuse lorry to negotiate?"
He added: "It's impossible for the residents to indemnify district council operations staff for any injury they might receive entering district council owned property."
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West Street in St Neots, Cambs., was built in the 1800s - before a law passed under the Highways act 1835 making all public highways the responsibility of the local council.
However, in the 1960s the County Council was dissolved and the newly-formed Huntingdon District Council (HDC) failed to adopt the road - for unknown reasons.
Since then, the authority has granted planning permission for additional properties to be built, resulting in heavy duty vehicles breaking down the road surface.
It is not yet clear whether residents will have to pay for indemnity insurance.
In a statement the council said: "We have already changed the collections from a standard refuse vehicle to a smaller vehicle, however, due to the nature of the surface of the road there are considerable health and safety concerns, including damage to the council’s refuse collection vehicles which are not designed for such roads.”