MY husband and I own our own business and a few years ago I purchased a second black bin.

However, I now pay for a mini skip to be emptied at the business premises, and so I brought the black bin home to avoid any surplus rubbish lying around my garden.

I do not expect the council to empty both bins every week, but because our rubbish was not collected on Friday, April 30, we asked Bury Metro to empty them. Their reply was that we should not have two bins but that we should put the extra rubbish in bags by the bin. But when a Bury Metro truck arrived it took not only our bags of rubbish but the bin as well. Our property!

We rang Bury Council and then the depot and were told that the bin was collected because we should not have two bins. We replied that that bin belonged to us and that taking it was theft.

The council did return the bin, but I have to ask myself what sort of borough do we live in where the local authority would rather see rubbish lying around than allow people to purchase a second bin. I can only feel sorry for people living in areas where black bins are emptied once a fortnight, especially those larger families with young children.

J. WESTWELL