Oh lord, it's time to put the bin out

• Scottish Borders Council says it will save 17,000 a year in transport costs

• Residents claim they will have to walk half a mile or more with their bin

• Bins will only be emptied when left at the end of driveways

Key quote"Will a duke have to push his bin further than a mere viscount? These council people obviously haven't thought this out at all." Charles Mosley, editor-in-chief of Debrett's

BLUE blood no longer cuts any ice with one Scottish council, which has ordered the landed gentry to drag their wheelie bins to the ends of their extensive driveways if they want their rubbish collected.

Two of the best-known landowners in the Borders have expressed displeasure at the measure aimed at saving the council bin lorries 14,000 miles of travelling and 17,000 in costs.

Until recently landowners were offered the special service of having rubbish collected from outside the doors of their homes. This was seen as unfair to others who had to haul their refuse out into the street.

Under the new system rubbish will be uplifted only if left at the end of the drive, leaving many landowners to trek a couple of hundred yards just to put the bins out each week.

Earl Haig, of Bemersyde House, near Melrose, who is 87, said he was not looking forward to hauling his bins 200 yards every week. "This seems a bit unfair and I am sure there are a great many people who will suffer from this change," he said. "It is the taxpayers who are paying for the running of the council and they have not been very sympathetic - in my humble opinion, they direct too much money elsewhere and neglect the basics.

"If you don't pay your taxes to get your bins emptied, what do you pay them for? I will need to take these dreadful bins a couple of hundreds yards - that is quite an effort. I am sure there are people in the outlying areas who have even further to take their bins - it's disappointing."

Another, younger, landowner, James Pringle, 49, Laird of Torwoodlee, near Galashiels, said that although he employed a number of staff, the wheelie bin issue was still a problem.

"It is certainly true that I have a forester who has a tractor at his disposal but I wouldn't like to ask him as he has to deal with his own bins. In fact there are 13 cottages on the estate who face having to drag their bins around half a mile.

"I can understand the council's position but I intend to grow old and this is not fair on the elderly. The council recently issued us with recycling bags which they collect on a Wednesday; then they come back for the bins the next day. I don't know what will happen to the recycling now."

Mr Pringle said he was considering what action to take, including appealing against the changes.

The decision - taken by Scottish Borders Council after a council official investigated the time it took to drive up and down the long pathways - has provoked an angry reaction from many more landowners in the region, who believe they are being sold short.

Council officials insisted they would be happy to discuss any problems the changes cause with individuals.

John Cook, the head of environmental services, said: "The benefits to the council are reduced costs, maintenance and time spent, so it is better productivity. It is an efficiency measure.

"We are travelling up private roads, and there is the possibility of liability issues in that. We don't own these roads, and there may be insurance issues.

"But having said that, if there are issues with particular areas, we are happy to discuss that with the owners."

Charles Mosley, editor-in-chief of Debrett's, called the changes "underhand".

"This is an attack on the upper classes disguised as utility," he said. "Will it apply to everyone, and in what manner? Will a duke have to push his bin further than a mere viscount? These council people obviously haven't thought this out at all."

A spokesman for the Scottish Countryside Alliance, the rural pressure group, said: "We think this is rather mean- spirited of Scottish Borders Council. People who live in the countryside pay their council tax the same as everyone else and are entitled to a full service.

"We are rather concerned about elderly people having to push wheelie bins to the end of a long drive so the council can save a measly sum."

The new refuse collection rules will come into force on 1 April next year.