I CAN assure your readers that Bournemouth Council has never had a policy of fining residents over putting out their bins at the “wrong” time.

Your correspondent clearly lives outside of Bournemouth, as he mentions having black, blue and green bins.

People get up, go to bed and leave their homes at different times, and it would be quite unreasonable to expect them not to put their bins out at a time convenient to themselves.

We are proud of the tremendous efforts made by our residents to reduce the amount they put in their small bins, by massively increasing what they recycle, putting Bournemouth as the top and best performing council in the country for recycling.

As the cabinet member responsible for rubbish (perhaps I should re-phrase that!), I can promise that Bournemouth residents are safe to put out their bins whenever it suits them.

COUNCILLOR MICHAEL FILER, Cabinet Member Transport, Cleansing & Waste