Wheelie bin ban 'could see rats in the kitchen'

ONE of Edinburgh’s top restaurateurs says the council’s refusal to allow wheelie bins could attract rats to Capital eateries.

Malcolm Duck, who owns Duck’s at Le Marché Noir in the New Town, says the industry has been placed in a difficult situation by council rules.

A ban on dumping food waste in secure units such as outdoor wheelie bins means they are forced to store it inside, running the risk of attracting vermin.

"We have to comply with health and hygiene regulations but at the same time the council are making people store waste in small restaurants," he said. "If we have to store food waste indoors for days it is difficult not to attract vermin."

Mr Duck, head of the Edinburgh Restaurateurs’ Association, was outraged last year when his large wheelie bin was taken from outside his restaurant in Eyre Place.

Dozens of bins left outside bars and restaurants were taken by the city council as part of a crackdown on "obstacles" blocking the street.

"They say we are extending our business to the street with the wheelie bins, but the council have even larger bins which stay on the street permanently," Mr Duck said.

New legislation, which came in force last November, gave companies specific four-hour time slots when they can put their bins outside for collection. Anyone leaving the containers on the streets outside their allocated hours faces losing their bin, with a £50 fee to get it back.

Alan Welsh, chairman of the New Town, Broughton and Pilrig Community Council, said: "We back the council 100 per cent. We are concerned with keeping pavements clear for people to walk on, not for rubbish bins."

No one at the city council was available for comment.