Rubbish on the footpath outside.

[starone]

Monday is collection day so I put the recycling box and the small kitchen waste box and the wheelie bin outside on the footpath on Sunday evening. The binmen come very early before I am ready to face the day. If someone falls over it can they sue me or is the council liable for damages? Sometimes the recycling is there until the afternoon.

[bednobs]

sorry starby, i don't know the answer but i presume they could sue you, as it's not the council's fault you put it on the pavement. Are you straight on the road at the front?

[EDDIE51]

We have to do this round our way , if it is not out on the pavement the binmen just leave it .

[jno]

I would think this is a pretty theoretical problem. Everyone puts bins out the night before, don't they? Pedestrians are supposed to look where they're going.

[albaqwerty]

I don't think you could be liable. Why can't pedestrians look where they're going anyway?
Sometimes our bins get collected before 8am, others it 4.30pm.

[starone]

If they can't see it they ignore it. I have tried tucking it into the gateway only to find it still there at the end of the day. I have to put it right outside and this is a main road. Thank goodness I am only here on a temporary basis while work is done on my bungalow. I fetch the boxes in as soon as I see they are done. As we have to put them out at the council's order (not request) I reckon it's their responsibility, but I did wonder.

[daffy654]

We don't have bins, we have to use black bin bags, if we put them out the night before we can get fined.

[pastafreak]

It may depend on the council. I think ours has a set time [before] which bins can't go out.

[bookbinder]

Blind people can't see the rubbish, so they might fall over it. Does your council state a time for putting out the rubbish? E.g. before 0800 or something like that?

[starone]

Yes bookbinder - before 8 a.m. but even so they are there sometimes all day so there is plenty of time for someone to fall over them. (Sighs sadly - I don't get up until 8 and then I take an hour getting ready - it's one of the perks of getting old.) Thanks for your interest everyone.

[wardlaw]

Our collection times vary. Totally blind people usually have a helper/stick/dog and they would be going so slowly that at worst they would just bump into the wheelie bin. Our 90 year old widow from across the road is registered - but not totally - blind and experiences few problems. Perhaps it's time to be a nation of carers/neighbours rather than litigants.