HOUSEHOLDERS in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area are being asked to ensure they take measures to avoid bins out for emptying do not blow over in the autumn winds.

At this time of year it’s not unusual for Central Fife to experience our share of high winds which brings with it an increased risk of bins being toppled by strong gusts.

After all the fact that the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area has more than 20 wind turbines suggests that it is a windy alley!

Martin Kingham, from Fife Council’s waste operations team, is keen to remind the area's householders of Council’s advice on trying to avoid bins falling over and contests being distributed all over the road.

He said: “We find that green bins with lighter contents are at most risk and if these bins fall over, the cans and plastics can quickly become windblown and scattered.

“To avoid this, if we expect that the following day will be windy, we’ll divert vehicles from other routes so we can empty green bins as early in the day as possible to reduce the risk of full bins being blown over."

He added: “To avoid being caught out by a change in collection routine, which can happen for other reasons too, we ask residents to always present their bins for collection by 6am on collection day.

"Bins may be emptied earlier than they normally expect and we wouldn’t want residents to miss out on their collection.

“We also arrange for our street cleaning teams to be aware of the areas of Fife scheduled for a green bin collection, so that they can react quickly if there are any spillages caused by the wind.”

For more advice on how residents can help to reduce the risk of their bin being blown over or missed on collection day, visit fifedirect.org.uk/bins