A DISABLED MAN has said Caerphilly Council's binmen have 'learnt nothing' after a recent report into their behaviour was released.

Rhodri Smith, from Blackwood, has been left feeling 'victimised' by members of Caerphilly Council's waste collection team. 

Mr Smith has told the Argus that on the night of Storm Jocelyn in late January, he came outside to find his bins all over the floor from the wind, and struggled to place them all back in order ready for collection the following morning, only to watch them be ignored when the binmen came around at 7am. 

Following this incident, he filed a complaint with the council, only to find his bins left on their side following waste collection the following week. 

For weeks afterward, he has found his bins left in numerous odd places, such as on someone else's driveway or even seemingly strategically placed around his car, along with other neighbours' bins, directly stopping him from accessing his car. 

Mr Smith claims this has been ongoing for months, with no sign of stopping despite numerous emails and calls with the council requesting the teams are spoken to about their behaviour. 

He said: "It was at this point I realised that that the crew was being vindictive because I had made a complaint and it had been upheld. 

"I wanted the antics to stop so I placed myself on the assisted collection list (since myself and my partner are both disabled and would have been entitled but had put-off making extra work for the crew), and assumed them having to collect and put the bin back to my door would stop hopefully stop their poor behaviour....or so I thought."

The assisted collection scheme is designed to help more vulnerable residents with their bin collections, and after Mr Smith called Caerphilly Council to confirm he was on the list after his bins were ignored for a second week, he was reassured he was on it and that his bins would be collected at a later date. 

After the second collection date was missed, he was told the problem was being escalated to the council's complaints department by team members who visited him to discuss the issue. 

He continued: "That weekend, I'd had an accident which had resulted in a bloody tissue accidentally being put in our recycling. 

"When the binmen came to collect, they saw the tissue and refused to take any of the recycling and didn't even ask for it to be removed. 

"I hadn't known about it as I was in hospital over the weekend, and I came home to find more bins were put behind my car, yet everyone else's was put back normally. 

"I really don't see the point in the assisted scheme if they are forcing me to move the bins back myself to get to my car?"

Following this, he spoke to the council again, only to have his bins missed and more put behind his car. 

He continued: "I told the council I couldn't deal with these games anymore and that the teams must have confidence in their jobs to act like this. 

"I called a meeting with the council to deal with this, and had two members come to my house who said they would talk to the team."

Since the meeting, Mr Smith has continued to deal with missed collections for his food and refuse bins, and believes that his experiences mean that the council "have learned nothing" despite the recent report into behaviour. 

He said: "The crew have discriminated against me for making a complaint, then further continued this pattern of behaviour knowing that I have disabilities, on numerous occasions.

"CCBC wished to cover it up and under the guise of a broken down lorries and misunderstandings, staff laziness and miscommunication between manager and staff."

A Caerphilly Council spokesperson confirmed they are aware of Mr Smith's issues.

They said: "We are working directly with him to ensure his concerns are addressed.”