A surprising reason as to why some bins get lost in Herefordshire has emerged.

In the year to February, 258 domestic rubbish or recycling bins, and one commercial rubbish bin, were reported to Herefordshire Council.

But over the same period, “20 bins, 16 from households and four from commercial premises, were replaced due to being lost in the back of the lorry”, the council said in response to a freedom of information request.

It explained: “When a bin is reported as lost we ask the customer to look for the bin to check if it has been left at the wrong location or with a neighbour.

“We check with the crew in case the bin has been lost in the back of the vehicle.

“Finally, the situation will be monitored for two collections to see if the bin returns. If the bin is not found after this we will replace it.”

The council does not charge residents to replace missing or stolen bins. But it does charge trade customers £91.89 for a new bin, plus £27.50 delivery.

The council has meanwhile announced that from August it will begin a new eight-year waste and recyclables collection contract with its current provider FCC Environment, which will deploy two new fully electric bin lorries in Hereford.