An angry resident tried to blockade the civic amenity site in Colchester after being stopped from doing a good deed.

Blocked - resident Nigel Richards, of All Saints Avenue, Colchester was stopped from taking his neighbours' waste to the dump. Picture: STEVE BRADING 40406-g

Nigel Richards, of All Saints Avenue, thought he would help out his neighbours and Colchester Council by collecting all the leftover Christmas rubbish bags and taking them to the site off Maldon Road.

He decided to help after hearing that due to the Bellhouse landfill site being closed over the weekend they would have to wait until Friday for their rubbish to be collected.

But as he made his sixth visit to the public dump yesterday, council workers became suspicious and after discovering what he was doing, told him it was not allowed and he would have to stop.

Mr Richards, 68, said he was so upset by this he decided to make his point by blocking the entrance to Essex County Council-run site with his car and trailer.

But workers from Colchester Council, which operates its refuse vehicles from the site, forcibly moved his vehicle out of the way so people could get in and out.

Mr Richards remains unrepentant and said he was only trying to help both his neighbours and the council.

Dave McManus, waste and transport manager for Colchester Council, explained it is illegal for anyone to carry waste that does not belong to them.

A spokesman for Essex County Council said: "It is unsafe and technically illegal for anyone who is not a registered waste carrier to transport refuse."

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Published Tuesday, January 11, 2005

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