CHOCOLATE treats and a rogue coat hanger left one Radcliffe woman not best pleased with Bury Council.

Sylvia Edney put her blue recycling bin out as usual last week, outside her home in Okehampton Close, and found out later that it had not been emptied.

Mrs Edney telephoned the council and was told it was because refuse collectors found a plastic Cadbury chocolate container and a coat hanger in her blue bin.

Those plastics don't fall in line with the council restrictions on what can and can't be put in the blue recycling bins used by Bury householders.

"I wasn't happy that I had to ring the council to establish what the problem was and at the idea of having to wait three weeks to have my blue bin emptied," said Mrs Edney.

A council spokesman conceded that its staff could have notified Mrs Edney of the reason her bin was not emptied, but maintained that they were right not to have emptied it.

The local authority delivers guidelines on what can and cannot go in what bin and the guidelines state that plastic bottles are allowed, but other plastic items are not, including coat hangers.

Mrs Edney accepted that point and said she was using an outdated guide.

Council staff have now visited her to resolve the issue and give her a new guide.

"I am pleased with the way that it has been resolved and grateful to the Radcliffe Times for looking into it," said Mrs Edney.

"However, it is a shame I am still going to have to wait a few weeks before I can have my blue bin emptied again."

A Bury Council spokesman said: "Sometimes recycling bins are not collected because they are contaminated, ie, they have the wrong type of waste in them.

"When this happens, we would expect the collection crew to put a sticker on the bin or a leaflet through the letterbox, and we apologise that it seems this did not happen on this occasion.

"One of our recycling officers, however, did visit the lady concerned and advised her on what items should go in the relevant recycling bin.

"There was very little in her blue bin to empty, so we hope that she will not be inconvenienced by having to wait for the next regular collection.

"In other cases, if there is not enough room in the bin to wait until the next collection, we can arrange to send out recycling sacks to the householder to fill with the correct recyclable items."

Visit tinyurl.com/burycouncilbins for more information about bin collections and suitable items for each type of bin.