PENSIONERS mistakenly given wheelie bins were told it would take up to three months for workers from a depot a mile away to pick them up.

Beryl James, who lives in Fairacres Road, Didcot, was supposed to have sacks delivered ahead of South Oxfordshire District Council’s new waste collection system.

The disabled 81-year-old is one of several people across the district who are supposed to get plastic sacks for their rubbish instead of wheelie bins.

But a week before the launch of the new scheme last month, two wheelie bins arrived instead.

Mrs James says the council told her it could take up to three months to remove them from outside her home.

Waste contractor Verdant has its depot in Basil Hill Road, Didcot — just 1.03 miles from Fairacres Road.

Mrs James tried to report the problem to Verdant but, like many residents, could not get through on the 03000 610610 helpline. She said: “I phoned the council instead and they told me it could take up to three months for them to collect these wheelie bins. I think it’s disgraceful.

“We call it bin alley here. I have no idea why it will take them so long to collect them. They are only down the road.”

She added: “When they came they just dumped them on the path. It was awful. I wondered what was going on so I went down and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. They are an eyesore.”

The new waste collection system is designed to double recycling rates, with each home getting two wheelie bins, for alternate weekly collections of general waste and recycling, along with a caddy for the county’s first weekly food waste collection.

Last week, council leader Ann Ducker and chief executive David Buckle apologised for teething troubles with the system and said they hoped to have everything sorted out in days.

Great-grandmother Connie Walford, 85, was also wrongly delivered two wheelie bins. she said: “They never came to ask us if we could cope with the bins.

“Three months is the latest rumour we will have to wait until they are collected. It’s silly, you would think they would want them back before then.”

A district council spokesman said: “Currently our priority is to sort out the few remaining outstanding problems such as repeat missed collections which are of greater inconvenience to residents.

"We expect all sacks to have been delivered by the end of this week, after which time we can look to collecting extra bins as soon as possible.”