Adur and Worthing bin strike: Lancing couple demand repayment from council - 'It's not fair'

Paul, 65, and Gina Scotting, 64, have sent an invoice to the council, asking for £157.56, to pay for the visits to recycling centres in Worthing and Shoreham.

Gina said: “We have paid our council tax and because this service, which we pay for, was not delivered, we expect a refund, which covers all the costs we incurred.

“My husband had to take time out of work. He’s self-employed so it affects his hourly rate.

“They should be prepared to pay that.

“They never should have gone on strike. They pay a fortune for their CEOs and heads of department and in allowances to councillors.

“Not one of them has been round to talk to people and offer solutions.

“It’s just not fair. There’s probably hundreds of people unable to take their rubbish to the tip and it’s going to accumulate.

“There’s problems of foxes, rats and disease. They seem to think waste disposal can be pushed to one side for a while and it really cannot.”

Bin collections resumed in Adur and Worthing earlier this month, after four weeks of strike action, following an agreement between the councils and the union to pause the strike.

The GMB Union announced last Thursday (April 21) that members who work in refuse, recycling and street cleansing voted to accept the Adur and Worthing Councils' latest pay offer and suspend their strike action.

However, Gina said more needs to be done to compensate residents who were affected by the strike.

"It's something I feel strongly about, especially in these days when everyone is struggling," she said.

"We pay enough.

“I don’t understand strikes, all you get is resentment from people you are causing the trouble for.

"It’s outside the front of the house, it can’t stay there because it accumulates. We have foxes and seagulls. I’m sure everybody has had the same problem.

"You can’t do this to people. It’s wrong on every level."

Gina and Paul have requested to be paid back £1.80 for using the refuse collection facility three times, £5.76 in milage for three round trips of four miles and £150 for the time taken out of the working days.

Adur and Worthing Councils said in March that it was unable to offer a council tax refund in response to the industrial action.

The councils, when asked for comment, confirmed the position remained unchanged.