Bexley binmen are speaking out against the increasing rubbish rage they claim they are experiencing on their rounds.

They claim they are experiencing violent threats regularly each month from the public across the borough.

Gagged

News Shopper had planned to bring you photos of the binmen who contacted us.

Unfortunately after speaking to us, Serco asked them to sign a document banning them from being pictured in the press and speaking further.

Lee Henderson, 34, was allegedly grabbed by the scruff of his shirt on January 31 in The Nursery, Erith when he and colleague, Peter Marples, 51, said he had been threatened with stabbing on numerous occasions.

The pair told News Shopper the anti-social behaviour has increased in the last five years since Bexley Council created a policy where each household could only one rubbish bin.

Now they say thay are starting to fear for their lives just by doing their jobs.

'People have threatened to stab me'

Mr Marples said: "I’ve been doing this job for 25 years and now there are days when I just don’t want to go in because the public are so aggressive.

"It happens two or three times a month and it’s definitely getting worse.

"People have threatened to stab me if I don’t collect all their dustbins even though the council says we can only collect one.

"It can be really frightening but I’m not trained up for any other job so I can’t just leave it.

"I think it’s partly because we have such a tight schedule we’re not able to talk to members of the public and explain why we can only accept one bin or park in certain places."

'Grabbed by the scruff of my shirt'

Lee Henderson, 33, added: "A few weeks ago in Erith I was grabbed by the scruff of my shirt by a really big guy and swung around.

"He was spitting and swearing at me.

"We had parked in a really narrow road so traffic could only get through one way, we told him we’d only be a few minutes but he said he couldn’t wait that long.

"We reported it to the police. It was really frightening.

"It definitely makes our jobs a lot harder.

"I've been doing this job for 15 years and the problem is definitely getting worse."

Serco response

News Shopper: Bexley binmen hit out at increasing rubbish rage

Serco’s partnership director Tim Guile said: “The safety of our staff is always our top priority. 

“We encourage our people to report any incidents of assault or abuse and whilst these are rare we take each and every one of them extremely seriously and act accordingly.”