Ilkley residents are not in the habit of hanging signs in their front windows which read 'I'm away, please burgle me.'

However, Howard Scaife of Curly Hill, Middleton believes this would be just as effective as

a wheelie bin left outside a

house on the pavement for several days.

Having just returned from a

holiday Mr Scaife was less than amused to discover he had

suffered an attempted break-in.

His neighbour had also suffered a break-in while on holiday and Mr Scaife believes the bins were probably a factor in attracting burglars.

Mr Scaife said he had deliberately left his newly-delivered wheelie bin in his garden, not on the pavement where refuse

collectors would empty it.

However, the bin was removed from the garden, emptied and left on the pavement, he claims.

"You cancel the milk and the papers before you go on holiday, you lock up, switch everything off, but what about your wheelie bin," he said.

Although angry because of the attempted burglary, Mr Scaife believes it is important to examine the 'wider picture'

He believes the principle of the bins is not the issue, it is people having to cart them from their homes on to the pavement (and back), health and safety concerns, potential for accidents and the question of liability.

He believes a risk assessment before bins were introduced to Ilkley should have cast doubt over the town's suitability for the scheme.

Steep hills, pensioners, young mums having to negotiate bins on pavements, all put question marks over the scheme, believes Mr Scaife.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents believes bins can be a hazard.

Spokesman Roger Vincent said: "Statistics for 1997, the most recent available, show that more than 5,000 people were injured in bin-related accidents."

He added that all new schemes would suffer teething problems.

Keen to offer a constructive alternative Mr Scaife said one option would be to look at the

continent where bins are divided into sections - glass, food waste and bottles for example.

District councillor Anne Hawkesworth has previously voiced security fears over the bins issue.

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