A RESIDENT said he will get his own padlock for their block of flats and “send a receipt” to the council after their bins have been serially fly-tipped for over a year.

Simon Stothart, 38, from Mackie Avenue in Patcham, said that “nothing’s changed” and that the general waste bin for their ten flats are a “free for all”.

Simon revealed that someone putting rubbish in the recycling bin explained to him that the recycling bin on Mackie Avenue is listed as a “local recycling point” on Brighton and Hove City Council's website.

However, the general waste bin is exclusively for the ten flats on Mackie Avenue and Simon says that he is going to take matters into his own hands.

He said: “I’m going to go and buy a padlock with ten keys, the bin has a padlock hole on it. I’m going to buy a padlock, lock it up once it has been emptied and then give each resident a key each.

“Then on a Friday morning when they’re meant to be emptied, I go to work at 6.30am so I’ll be able to unlock it.”

The Argus: Simon said they have been storing rubbish in their kitchen when the communal bin is full.Simon said they have been storing rubbish in their kitchen when the communal bin is full.

The residents at Mackie Avenue have been in contact with Alistair McNair, Patcham and Hollingbury ward councillor.

Councillor McNair told The Argus last week he has been in regular contact with Cityclean and there should be locks for bins arriving this week.

He said: “I have been in touch with Cityclean management, as I was today [October 1] actually, and I have been told that there should be lockable bins next week, there should be signs next week and if people are caught fly-tipping they could be fined. Residents should be issued with keys for these bins.

Cllr McNair said he has also asked for more bins for the residents in Mackie Avenue.

The Argus: Simon said they need more than one general waste bin for the ten flats.Simon said they need more than one general waste bin for the ten flats.

He added: “I have asked for more bins because obviously they don’t have enough bins there and I don’t know yet what is going to happen about that. But we’re going to see what actually happens next week [from October 4].

“I have got an email saying this will happen next week and we will see if it does and we will follow on from there.”

The council told The Argus last week they would be resolving the issue.

A spokesman said: “We will be contacting the residents to discuss the situation over the lock and keys to hopefully resolve the situation.”