RESIDENTS in Glasgow’s West End have been left out of pocket after their factor ­introduced a fee for an outsourced company to ­‘pull-out’ their wheelie bins.

Partick Housing Association is one of the first to pilot the scheme that requires tenants to pay an additional fee to have their bins taken in and out their back courts.

It comes following the introduction of the Bin Replacement Programme by Glasgow City Council that sees small metal dustbins within the backcourts/common bin areas of flats and tenements replaced with larger wheeled bins free of charge.

Heather Sinclair, who lives on Dumbarton Road, was shocked to see the extra charge on her monthly bill for a so-called ‘bin pull-out service’.

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She said: “Basically , Glasgow City Council come and empty our bins normally and we have now to pay a service charge for the bins to be returned by this private company.

“I disagree with this service as we already pay for this through our council tax and the cleansing department have been emptying our bins without hassle for decades so why the sudden change?

“The Council say this is a pilot scheme which could mean if successful they could roll this out all over Glasgow.

“ I don’t understand why the service was created when Glasgow Cleansing Department where doing the job well in the first place.”

Partick Housing Association told the tenant that Glasgow City Council approached them regarding the service, adding that the council said it “would provide the green wheelie bins free of charge if Partick Housing provided the pull out service, as they currently did for 100 closes.”

A business engagement officer for the council said: “Partick HA and Partick Works Limited were keen to extend the presenting of bins to another 400 closes as it will reduce missed collections as there will be no issues gaining access to the back courts.

“Also, the refuse collection will become more effective and timeous as there will be an agreed short collection window after which Partick HA will return the empty bins to the back court.

“This is an excellent example of partnership working which will improve the effectiveness of our refuse collection, reduce manual handling and at the same time reduce disturbance for Partick HA tenants.”

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A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “We have been working successfully with housing associations across the city on the implementation of the bin replacement programme.

“The work with Partick HA builds upon a long-standing arrangement that sees tenants’ bins pulled through from bin courts to the street so they can be collected by our teams.

“Similar ‘pull-through’ arrangements are in place with other housing associations across the city.

“The bin replacement programme will eventually see 50,000 old fashioned steel bins replaced by larger wheelie bins, which will greatly improve containment of rubbish in back courts and reduce the risk of vermin.

“The bin replacement programme is currently is being rolled out in the north of the city and is due to be completed in all parts of the city by late 2020.”

A spokesperson for Partick Housing Association added: “Partick Housing Association are working in partnership with Glasgow City Council on an initiative to improve the environment of our community through the Bin Replacement Programme. 

"Our customers tell us that improvements to bin and back court areas is important to them and this service works towards that. 

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"With recent stories of vermin infestations across the city and other issues with refuse collection, we believe this service has had a real positive impact and effect on the environment”