Mysterious stickers offering rubbish collection within 24 hours for fee prompts confusion

A local council in Kent has been forced to offer an explanation after stickers mysteriously appeared on residents' bins offering to collect their rubbish within 24 hours, for a set price.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council posted a photo of the stickers on social media, revealing that though they believe the offer is legitimate, the stickers are nothing to do with the council itself.

The sticker which offers to dispose of people's rubbish within 24 hours reads: "Empty your bin early.

"Simply transfer funds using your postcode as a reference and then text us your address.

"Text service only. Your bin will be emptied between 9am-5pm within 24 hours of your booking.

"All waste disposed of at North Farm Waste Recycling Centre, North Farm Lane, TN12 3EE."

The poster continues with bank details for prospective customers to send their payment.

Posting on Facebook, a spokesperson for the council said: "We’ve been made aware of a company, independent of us, attaching stickers to bins offering to empty them within 24 hours in the Tonbridge area.

"While this seems to be a legitimate service being offered, it is in no way affiliated to us or the services we provide."

Currently, food waste is collected weekly in the area, with black domestic waste and green recycling collected once a fortnight.

The post sparked a number of comments.

One user posted: "Being as the bins technically remain property of TMBC, can you not threaten Criminal Damage of Littering/Flyposting if they continue?"

While another user wrote: "I think we would know it’s not affiliated to the council by the fact that it says bin will be emptied within 24 hours.

"The council struggles to empty bins on time at the best of times!"

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