AN eagle-eyed resident spotted glass bottles — which had been painstakingly sorted into separate bins for different colours — all tipped into one truck load.

Brian Parsons, 63, was on his way to buy a paper in Bowmont Square, Bicester, when he saw a glass recycling truck load all different colour bottles into the same place.

The news is likely to infuriate scores of residents who regularly stand at the bottle bank carefully sorting glass by colour.

But Cherwell District Council, which runs the district’s recycling schemes, say the lorry was split into three compartments.

Mr Parsons, of Shaw Close, said: “It is possible, but the lorry driver did appear to be dropping them in exactly the same place and didn’t appear to be positioning it over compartments.” The sheet metal fabricator and former RAF Airman added: “The diligent people who ensure the correct colour bottle goes in the right bank are really wasting their time.”

A Cherwell spokesman said Thamesdown Recycling used vehicles where the body is split inside — there are usually two internal dividers splitting their trucks into three compartments.

He said: “As part of its two-year contract with Cherwell, Thamesdown keep the proceeds from the sale of the glass. As separated glass is more valuable than mixed glass, it would not be in the company’s interests to combine them on collection.”