Monthly clinical waste collections were axed by the council weeks before yellow bags were mysteriously dumped in Swindon.

Swindon Borough Council, which moved swiftly to remove the nine sacks left on Prospect Place last month, is understood to still be investigating the incident.

But Grange Park man George Bradfield said he could understand how the waste may have been left by the road.

The 66-year-old diabetic, whose spent insulin syringes are disposed of by the council, said he had received a letter from the council last month saying his monthly clinical waste collection was being cancelled.

Instead, he would have to call a borough council hotline or visit the town centre offices to arrange for his small clinical waste bin to be emptied.

“They cancelled the monthly collection times just like that,” said George. “If anyone had a monthly collection, they had bin bags left, they were an elderly person and they received a similar letter, I can understand why they would dump the waste.”

He stressed he was not trying to excuse the person responsible for the dumped waste. But he questioned the council’s logic in stopping the monthly service. Now, he is often forced to wait for up to 25 minutes on a council hotline trying to arrange for the waste to be picked up.

It is surely predictable that changes to collection policy, timing and frequency will result in an increased incidence of non-compliant disposal . . . . dumping, and syringes/needles etc in black bags or recycling bins.

There are obviously two sides to this story and comments about the irritation of having to arrange individual collections are unlikely to garner sympathy. That is absolutely no reason whatsoever to dump clinical and sharps wastes.

Expect more dumping of domiciliary clinical wastes are more and more Councils see this as a money saving option.