A DEFIANT resident is making a one-man stand against Hynd-burn Council's controversial blue box recycling scheme - by leaving his box at the back of his house instead of the front.

Alan Pilkington, 55, of Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors, thinks the scheme needs to be changed. He feels people don't want to carry the boxes through their houses from their kitchens.

He said: "People don't want to keep the boxes in their kitchens for a fortnight. They leave them outside in their backyards. But what's going to happen when it snows and rains?

"The box is going to get full of water so when you walk through your house it's going to drip everywhere. The council won't collect them from the back street but I think that is where they belong."

Mr Pilkington, who lives with his wife Pauline, put a note in his window when the refuse collectors came calling last Monday.

He said: "I heard the crash of things being put in the wagon and by the time I got to my front door they had gone past. I had left a note in my window saying my bin was at the back and as they went past one of them said: 'You must be joking.'

"It didn't take them long to collect the boxes as there weren't many in the street. But it's going to be a nightmare when everyone puts them on the front as it will bring traffic to a standstill."

The boxes are for bottles and tins and collections take place every two weeks. The scheme started last week after the council was told it must increase the amount of waste it recycles to 18 per cent by 2006. It currently recycles seven per cent.

Mr Pilkington added: "The council assumes we live in an ideal world. But what if someone has hurt their leg and cannot carry the box themselves or is disabled. Some clown in an office has just said: 'Let's do it this way' and not thought it through properly."

Councillor Tim O'Kane, portfolio holder for the environment, said: "Kerbside recycling doesn't work down back streets because the vehicle isn't designed that way."

Hyndburn Council's recycling officer Alison Howard said: "If a resident is unable to carry the box through he or she can carry the cans and glass in carrier bags and empty them in the box at the front. If a person is disabled or unable to participate, we will remove the box and bag. We don't want residents to worry or be concerned."