COUNCIL officers have been snooping in residents’ back gardens in a bid to find ‘unauthorised’ second wheelie bins.

The Blackburn and Darwen wardens - branded the ‘bin police’ by furious critics - were even spotted using ladders to peer over garden walls.

If they saw any homes with two bins for non-recycleable waste the workers took one away without informing the resident.

It is understood one Little Harwood resident reported the loss of her wheelie bin to the police after it was removed.

Council bosses apologised for the actions of their ‘over zealous’ staff, but insisted its policy of one rubbish bin per household was needed to reduce landfill costs and boost recycling.

They also alleged some people had been stealing bins from their neighbours.

But critics rounded on the council, branding the spying ‘ridiculous’ and ‘over the top’.

Coun Abdul Patel, of the Little Harwood ward, said: “This is ridiculous. How can you spy on people using a ladder? It would frighten people.

“They should knock on the door and show their ID. I am really shocked and will take it up with the council.”

Wheelie bin campaigner Doretta Cocks, who founded the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collections, said: “The term bin police is very much justified here.

“Councils do need to deal with wheelie bin thefts but this is definitely not the way to deal with it.

“It’s just not on and I would call 999 if it happened to me.

“You have to wonder how much time and money is going into this. It’s small wonder our council tax is going up every year.”

Hazel Wilson, 67, of Lowther Place, Blackburn, challenged two officers when she spotted them at the back of Whalley Old Road.

She said: “I was walking along a back alley and there were these two guys.

“One was carrying a ladder and putting it up against back yard walls one by one, and the other man was taking notes.

“I asked them what they were doing and they said some people had more than one black bin, and where houses had more than one they were removing it.

“They had a lorry parked nearby.

“I thought what if it an old lady was doing the washing-up and this man peered over the fence. It would give you an awful shock.

“If I was in my garden trying to catch some sun and some peeping Tom popped his head over the hedge I would call the police.”

Ms Wilson’s encounter with the officers came the same morning as the reported theft to police of the wheelie bin from the house in Providence Street on September 9.

Little Harwood councillor Naushad Surve said there was a problem with wheelie bins but that the council was handling it incorrectly.

He said: “I would prefer to see people given warning letters.”

People with two bins are thought to mix their extra bins with their neighbours’ on collection day, making it hard for binmen to spot which ones are ‘unauthorised’.

Council bosses say households putting out too much waste costs taxpayers almost £17,000 a year.

But other East Lancashire councils said they would not take the step of looking into residents’ gardens to check how many bins they have.

Coun Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration and environment, said: "Some households have unauthorised second bins.

“Many of these bins have been taken from other residents who have then been left with no bin or householders have called the council claiming their bin has been stolen in order to get a new bin delivered.

"We often get complaints from residents who say it is unfair that their neighbours have two bins and yet still pay the same amount of council tax as them.

“We would urge anyone with a second bin to leave it out on collection day and we will remove it.

“We could have chosen not to empty these unauthorised bins but it is not hygienic to leave them filled with rubbish.

"The council does remove unauthorised bins where they are found and have recently been carrying out checks to see how many unauthorised bins are in the borough.

“On this occasion, the officers were over zealous and the council apologies for the upset caused.“