A four-year-old has been thanked by refuse collectors for showing his appreciation to council workers as they collected his family’s bins.

It came as Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council shared videos informing residents about the valuable work their bin collection teams do on a daily basis. 

There had been concerns about the abuse frontline staff receive. The teams come up against issues every day, said the council, including contaminated bins, abuse from impatient drivers and parked cars that make access to bins almost impossible. 

The council said it had received a lot of positive comments from residents
The local authority recently published two films featuring the recycling collection team on their social media accounts, one of which received more than 17,000 views just on Facebook. 

As a result, many residents came forward to express their thanks to the bin collection teams for the work they do. 

One of those, was four-year-old Rory’s mum, Andrea. She told how Rory has always enjoyed watching bin collectors do their job, ever since he was a baby. 

As a special surprise, to thank Rory for his dedication in waving to teams every week, he received a thank you gift from refuse collector Paul.

Executive Member for Environment and Communities, Cllr Jim Smith, said: ‘Our bin collection teams work incredibly hard in all weathers – rain, ice or shine. 

"They don’t get to clock off until all bins on their round are emptied, and neither can they work from home. 

"They are a credit to the community, looking out for residents as they go, and I’m so pleased to see that people are grateful for them. They are our unsung heroes and deserve all the credit they get.”

The council revealed they have 60 members of staff collecting bins, who walk over 10 miles each day. 

There are 12 rounds in the borough, collecting refuse and recycling waste from almost 65,000 residential properties on a weekly basis. On top of that, there are three rounds collecting green waste and one commercial round too. 

The council said 70% of its workforce are local people.