BOURNEMOUTH council has awarded itself permission to continue advertising on bins in the gardens.

The borough introduced 17 solar-powered compacting Big Belly Bins to the Lower Gardens in early 2016, and gave itself approval for ads for a limited time. This has now been extended.

A report to the planning department states: "The use of traditional static bins has become increasingly less viable especially at periods of peak demand.

"At this point, and for safety reasons, it becomes physically impossible to empty the bins due to the high pedestrian footfall, which can result in the bins overflowing to the detriment of the gardens."

The report says that, during an average year, more than 1,000 metres cubed of rubbish is removed from the gardens, 70 per cent of it during May to September, leading to four collections per day with traditional bins.

It adds: "The cost of the lease agreement for these Big Belly Bins is £25,000 per annum, and in order to offset the cost of this enhanced service it has been proposed that the side panels of each bin could provide an opportunity for advertising/sponsoring.

"The use of advertising remains not to generate an additional income, but to offset our investment and sustain this new technology going forward."