A bin man has hit back at residents in Stoke-on-Trent who moaned about their rubbish not being collected. The Stoke-on-Trent City Council worker shared a video of himself reversing a 26-tonne wagon in Weston Coyney after heavy snow hit the Potteries yesterday (January 8).
The footage shows the truck making incredibly slow progress on a snow-covered hilly road on a housing estate in the south of the city during the hours of darkness. After around 40 seconds, the driver loses momentum as the wheels spin and the lorry slips and slides back down to its starting point.
He explained that his colleagues always try to empty bins but added that it was not always possible in treacherous conditions.
Writing on StokeonTrentLive’s Facebook page, he said: “Me driving my bin lorry today trying to get your bins emptied. Not every road can be gritted so some roads on housing estates get missed.
“People panic in cars whilst driving in the snow, you all should try driving and squeezing a 26-tonne bin lorry between parked cars in these weather conditions. It’s not like we don’t try. The road I reversed up I would usually drive up to carry on with my round in Weston Coyney.”
The bin man decided to voice his opinion after 55 streets in Stoke-on-Trent were missed yesterday and another 125 were affected on Monday.
His comment attracted several supportive replies. One wrote: “Good of you and your colleagues trying your best. Sadly there’s no pleasing some people and they normally haven’t got a clue what’s at stake with poor road conditions and cars strewn everywhere.”
The bin man shared a video of himself trying to reverse a wagon up a road in Weston Coyney
Another added: “I couldn’t fault the bin men this morning. It took a while for them but they did it, can’t believe how people can moan!! I know I wouldn’t like being out early in the cold trying get up and down the streets in this weather. How people expect you get past some of the parked cars I will never know.”
And a third wrote: “Good on you mate, you tried. They’d soon complain if you damage cars or you get stuck and blocked the road. Some people.”
The bin man then responded: “It’s nice to see people appreciate us. People know what we do for a living but yet we still get abuse because we are in their way, now if their bin wasn’t emptied they’d be the first to complain.”
However, some residents were less sympathetic. One wrote: “Well ours better get emptied tomorrow, been for weeks since last collection, certainly ain’t waiting six weeks when our bins are already overflowing.”
And a second added: “Our bins haven’t been emptied, should of [sic] been done Monday, it’s Wednesday now!! They could of emptied the bins today!”
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