COUNCILLORS kicked up a stink after a disappointing response from the Dorset Waste Partnership regarding the mystery of the missing litter bins in Lyme Regis.

The town council logged the four known locations of missing waste bins in Lyme Regis with the Dorset Waste Partnership – namely on the top of Hill Road, on Anning Road and South Avenue, and in the area of Jordan Flats and Mill Green, linked with Coombe Street.

The correspondence came after the matter of missing bins arose at a Lyme Regis town management committee meeting on January 15.

At a further committee meeting last week, on April 10, councillors were left disappointed at the response from Marc Phillips, operations supervisor for the Dorset Waste Partnership.

Mr Phillips said litter bins at various locations across the town were removed because of fly tippers and vandalism, including one bin on Mill Green which was repeatedly targeted and thrown into the river.

The response also stated that putting an additional bin in Anning Road or South Avenue after the disappearance of the previous bin would mean the area would be ‘over capacity’. Councillors heard the solution to this was that another bin is situated opposite Queens Walk nearby.

Cllr Mark Gage blasted the decision, stating that it ‘defies all logic’ and Cllr Lucy Campbell called it a ‘crazy response to a simple solution’.

The Dorset Waste Partnership also said the bin at the top of Hill Road was removed because it kept being filled with household waste. The bin has been reinstalled but fly tipping in the area will be monitored.

Cllr Rikey Austin said: “I regularly walk on Hill Road and have never noticed any household waste or fly tipping at all.”

Committee chairman Cllr Chris Clipson said that as a solution to vandalism, an alternative could be bigger bins that are bolted down – addressing the need to focus on ‘size and security’ as two main factors.

All councillors present at the meeting voted in favour of another letter to West Dorset District Council highlighting these concerns.