ELDERLY residents in mobile homes will be forced to carry their rubbish 100 metres because of a legal row preventing a bin lorry driving onto their site.

Vale of White Horse District Council has warned residents of about 30 homes at Tudor Court Park in Nobles Lane, Botley, that they will have to take their bins to the site entrance from tomorrow as the lorry is no longer allowed to pull up outside their homes.

Site owner RS Hill complained to the council that a 25-tonne lorry used by council waste contractors Biffa had damaged the road and gardens on the site.

A spokesman for RS Hill said it has made a claim for damages to Biffa and, as a result, the council has written to residents asking them to carry their bins to the site entrance until the dispute is sorted out.

Alan Kirby, 76, who lives at the park with wife Janet, 68, said they were shocked at the suggestion.

He said: “Many of the residents here are elderly and will not be able to carry bin sacks 100 metres to the entrance.

“We shouldn’t have to carry the bags anyway as we pay our council tax.

“Biffa could use one of its smaller lorries instead.”

In a letter, Vale of White Horse District Council officer Mark Watson told residents sacks will be provided if they cannot wheel bins to the site entrance.

The letter added: “Despite providing the owners with a memorandum from the council’s legal services team addressing some specific concerns, RS Hill are still refusing to sign the paperwork.”

Doug Houston, a spokesman for RS Hill, said the company has submitted a damages claim to Biffa for about £16,000 following damage to the roadway and gardens on the park.

He added: “The 25-tonner damaged the roadway and gardens and our claim is with Biffa.

“The council wants us to sign a damages waiver but that would remove all our rights – if Biffa used a smaller lorry we would not have a problem with it.”

Biffa and Vale of White Horse District Council issued a joint statement which said: “We can confirm that we’re having to find alternative ways of collecting waste from Tudor Court.

“This is because the landowners are refusing to sign a waiver that gives the council permission to access the land using a heavy goods vehicle.

“The waiver also protects the council from speculative claims over general wear and tear caused by our waste vehicles – this is entirely separate from an existing insurance claim over a specific incident that caused some damage.”