Wheelie bins

ONE MAN'S SOLUTION TO
INFREQUENT COLLECTIONS

He may not drive any more but old age pensioner Alan Cresswell has hit upon a novel idea of getting rubbish down to the public waste tip.

The 91-year-old hooks up his wheelie bin to the back of his mobility scooter to transport waste from his home in Stone Close, Bourne, and then makes his way to the household waste and recycling centre off Pinfold Road which is just over a mile away.

Mr Cresswell began making the regular trips last summer when his bin was full with hedge clippings. Since then he has been backwards and forwards several times to the recycling centre with his bin strapped to his scooter.

The former pilot, who celebrated his last birthday in 2010 by flying a Cessna aeroplane, makes his trips to the tip at a speed of around 8 mph completing some of the journey along main roads and so far he has not had any objections from motorists. "More people should follow my lead", he said, "rather than grumble about the inadequacy of bin collections. In fact, these trips to the tip are my way of responding to complaints from people elsewhere in the country whose bin collections were missed during the recent spell of freezing weather."

He went on: "I am the product of an earlier generation when you tried to do things for yourself. I don’t see why people should just sit back and complain. If I can do it behind a mobility buggy I am sure people can put their rubbish in their car and take it to the tip themselves. No one has yet objected to me driving along the main roads. On one occasion two policemen in a police car overtook me and even smiled as they went past. I am therefore sure that I am not doing anything illegal.”

Mr Cresswell takes his rubbish to the tip if he has forgotten to put his bin out to be emptied. The trips take about 15 to 20 minutes each way. He says that the staff on duty are always extremely co-operative and ready to help him unload the waste from his bin into the waiting skips.

The service veteran joined the Royal Air Force during the Second World War after the Germans invaded the Channel Islands where he was then living in 1940. After learning to fly in Florida, USA, he took part in combat missions hunting submarines in the North Atlantic and bombing missions over occupied Europe and was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

NOTE: This is an edited version of the story which appeared in
The Local newspaper on Friday 21st January 2011.

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