CALLS are being made for more action to stop Teignmouth becoming BINmouth.

Dumping of waste and increasing numbers of business waste bins stored permanently on town centre streets was raised as an issue earlier this year.

Now, since a mattress was recently found dumped beside a commercial waste refuse bin, there has been a further suggestion to charge private waste collection companies to store bins on pavements and roads.

Town, district and county councillor David Cox has had numerous complaints about trade bins obstructing the pavement and the fly tipping that it attracts over the last few months.

He said: ‘At the moment, whilst local shops and pubs have to pay for a pavement licence to put tables and chairs on the pavement, there is no charge for trade bins permanently stored on the highway.’

He explained it is illegal to store waste in a container or directly on the surface of the public highway without the consent of Devon County Council as the highway authority.

In theory, commercial waste collection companies could apply to the county council for consent to store a waste container on the highway.

However, currently the county council has no formal process to accept or consider the suitability of such a proposal.  

Cllr Cox added: ‘We can’t ignore the problem as the number of trade bins is increasing, we can’t take a zero-tolerance approach as most local businesses will not be able to comply.

‘A permit system will enable some sort of control, along with bin stores in areas around the town.’

Increasingly, the number of large, industrial-sized refuse containers are causing obstructions.

Cllr Cox has previously said there should be an ‘agreed approach’ to reduce the numbers of commercial bins left permanently on roads and pavements in Teignmouth town centre which has small and congested streets.

He said residents and businesses are fed up with the unsightly appearance and negative impact.

As well as creating an eyesore and attracting fly tipping and littering, the bins are also obstructing the pavements and creating hazards.

And there is a risk to people using mobility scooters of falling over or falling off the pavement by having to negotiate to get past the bins.