A review of where wheelie bins are left for emptying could see hundreds of households on unadopted roads having to leave their rubbish further from their homes.

Huntingdonshire District Council wants to change its waste collection policy after a number of problems caused by pick ups from “remote properties”.

A report by HDC operations manager Beth Gordon says poor road conditions have led to bin lorries being damaged and the council having to pay for repairs.

She continued: “There have been a number of recent incidents involving our collection vehicles when undertaking remote collections, these include a vehicle becoming stuck after a road edge gave way and a vehicle coming off a private road into a ditch in bad weather.”

The cost of recovering one of the vehicles was £1,000, while other costs have been incurred in officer time investigating complaints and dealing with insurance claims, and arranging for other crews to cover rounds when vehicles have been affected.

HDC is proposing that all households on unadopted or private roads should leave bins where those roads or lanes meet the public highway.

It says the only exception will be remote properties – those a long way from the nearest road – and they will have to meet a set criteria to see if they are suitable for bin lorries.

Lib Dem Councillor Mike Shellens described the idea as “stupid”. “They don’t want to collect bins from private roads anymore. So if you live in Walden Grove in Huntingdon, are the households going to have to drag their bins to the edge of the ring road?

“This is a draconian over reaction.”

Tory cabinet member for the environment, Councillor Darren Tysoe, said the policy was likely to be amended and would not go ahead as proposed.

He said it would not cover all unadopted roads, only those where there was deemed to be a problem.

“As it stands it [the policy proposal] is probably a bit too blunt,” he added. “We will survey properties first and then come back with the properties where there’s a problem and then we can come up with a solution. We will consult with the householders before there are any changes.”

The matter was due to be discussed at last night’s (Tuesday) Environmental Well-being Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting.