WHEELIE bins are to be confiscated if they are left out on streets for more than 24 hours -- to stop them being pinched!

Blackburn with Darwen Council has warned it will send out snatch-squads to grab unclaimed bins if people fail to take them off the pavement after bin men have visited.

Around 10 bins -- costing up to £60 each -- go missing from the borough's 58,000 homes each week after being targeted by vandals and thieves.

Blackburn with Darwen Council replaces the bins in most cases, together with replacing those that are broken, at a total cost of about £55,000 a year.

The confiscation warning -- believed to be the first of its kind in the North West -- has been issued in a leaflet explaining a new wheelie bin collection system.

Green' waste is collected one week and 'non-recyclable' the next next -- meaning most houses have two wheelie bins.

Peter Hunt, director of direct services at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "It is illegal to leave bins out all the time and like many other areas we do have a problem with them being stolen.

"We are still working out exactly how we will police it and how much it will cost, if anything, for people to get their bins back.

"But empty bins can cause all manner of problems if left out on the street."

In the Ribble Valley, where wheelie bins are not yet used, people face a fine of up to £50 if they leave bin bags out in the street on days other than collection days.

Mr Hunt added: "We will be looking at other schemes to see what happens elsewhere before deciding exactly what to do.

"Hopefully, the warning will be enough.

"Under the new bin collection scheme, people will have two bins and a crate for splitting up their rubbish in many areas, so they need to be taken back in as soon as possible.

"There are rumours that they are stolen and taken abroad but whether that is true or not, I don't know."

When the council orders new bins now, it gets the authority's logo embossed on to them in the hope they will be less attractive to steal.

However, the majority of the borough's bins are still plain.

Blackburn's new waste collection system starts for 21,000 homes with gardens next week.

On one week, residents will have recyclable waste collected -- garden waste going into a wheelie bin and dry recyclables such as glass and textiles into a crate -- while non-recyclables will be collected from the existing bin the next week.

Today, Conservative leader Colin Rigby said: "I hope this idea is ditched as soon as possible. It is a nonsense.

"Totally unenforcable is what it is. The emphasis should be on educating people, not threatening silly things."

Fire chiefs today backed the council's drive to keep wheelie bins off the streets.

A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue said: "A lot of fires are started in wheelie bins.

"The big fire at Brindle Gregson Lane Primary School was started in a wheelie bin.

"For everybody's safety, they should be kept out of the way apart from when they are about to be collected."