Kingsbridge Town Council is the proud owner of a new set of 19 cast iron bins.

They are solid and heavy, weighing in at 152kg (or 335lbs) each.

Each has a capacity of 63 litres which is exactly the same as the bins that they are replacing.

Mayor Cllr Philip Cole said: ‘’We had problems with the bins in the past because they were made of unpleasant plastic, South Hams District Council hadn’t kept them clean so they were dirty, smelly, and attacked by seagulls.’’

He continued: ‘’We wanted to have something with a generic house style in black that could be easily washed down and repainted when necessary.

‘’Before we had various plastic bins, some recycling bins that were never emptied and ended up in general waste and we expect the new ones to last for many years to come.”

‘’The best thing you can say about them is you don’t notice them but they are there.

’You don’t want anything too eyecatching which would divert attention away from all the lovely plantings from Kingsbridge in Bloom. They just need to be there doing their job and people are using them.

Town Council contractor Iain Randall managed to intall them all, both sides of the estuary in two days.

The bins cost £20,000 including installation.

They are Broxap Pierhead bins and are described by the manufacturers as ‘a contemporary style heavy duty and cast iron bin with front opening.’

Philip concluded: ‘’The bins have been placed both sides of the Estuary and the main thing is people have no excuse not to use them.”