RESIDENTS of a picturesque village are upset that a new refuse collection scheme may lead to wheelie bins spoiling the view.

Hambleton District Council's new rules have provoked anger, even tears, at Sandhutton.

The village is built around several greens, with no street lighting or footpaths. Residents have gravel pathways with a right of way to their homes. The greens are owned privately by Thirsk Estates.

The new refuse collection scheme establishes two collection points, and villagers must wheel bins down pathways or across the greens to reach them.

"Because we are expected to have them at the point by 6am, this means residents will no doubt take them out the night before. They will be there all day, whatever time they are emptied, in most cases until people return home from work in the evening, nearly 24 hours," said Mr Alan Helmsley. "This is not, naturally, a scene we are enamoured about."

He said people took great pride in keeping the village tidy. Some even paid contractors to cut the grass in front of their homes. "One elderly lady in particular was in tears when she talked to me this week," he said.

The parish council is also concerned about the way the scheme was introduced, not least because of safety issues.

Mr Helmsley added: "The last thing the village wanted was for the greens to become a rubbish tip. This is a conservation area and no thought has been given to how the system will work in this and similar villages."

Mike Kneebone, operational services manager for Hambleton, said the pilot scheme, if successful, would be implemented through the district. Leaflets sent to households constituted official notification and the change was mandatory, but help would be given to the elderly and infirm.