To not know if I should admire her balls or report her

[AnniesTurn]

Neighbour.

I recently had to access her shed. She has wall to wall storage boxes. Very neat. Very organised.

Except they are all free recycling boxes from the council. We all get one red one blue and one food caddy. She has about 10 of each.

I asked her and she said "oh you just to the collection point and the give you more". She's been to ALL the collection points and collected a set from each

She's even using the food caddys to store dry pet food. She had no shame at all about it.

I can't work out if it's the councils own fault for not keeping any records of who collects or her fault for clearly stealing so she can have lovely neat stackable storage!

I think I would speak to the Council about it but not report her. Some people have no shame.

I'd love a new paper recycling box (the lid of ours is falling apart) but I'm damned if I'm going to pay for a new one while the bin men continue to fling them around. Yes, I'm looking at you Serco!

I couldn't find it in me to care. I'd probably do the same having been given the idea.

She probably boasts about it on those 'how to be a tight arse' websites: "these storage boxes would have cost £20 at Wilko's but look, I got a load for free from the council by being a bit dishonest!"

She's probably one of the people moaning loudest about local services being cut.

Accessing is a bit more up market

You'll "decide to acquire a quantity of illicit receptacles for utilisation by myself" by the end of the thread.

You're just trying to posh-up an every day tale of box fraud

I would speak to the council so they can stop it happening in the future perhaps, but I wouldn't necessarily report and name her. We have extra recycling boxes, but they are used for recycling.

I do think that we live in a society where many people argue we are being "over policed" yet people who behave like this just demonstrate the reason why we are policed and watched. It's pretty pathetic behaviour - stackable plastic boxes are not that expensive when brought in bulk.

She borrows my mower I borrow her hedge trimmer.

What an eminently sensible neighbourly tool-sharing arrangement.

Of course I'm not going to report her! And yes I would have to buy a hedge trimmer

They aren't spare anyone can collect one if there's is lost or broken googled, you just go to the collection point and ask for what you need.

Theirs

Agree with steppemum too. She stole them. You and other council tax payers are paying for them.

Yama, we also have a weird co-op of cooking implements. She has a potato ricer I use and she likes my scales. Not rocking the boat anytime soon and running the risk of lumpy mash

To not know if I should admire her balls or report her

AND

Of course I'm not going to report her!

Make your mind up OP.

But it doesn't actually say anywhere that it's one per house. It really doesn't! I've googled.

I suppose it's implied

Coral, it was rather tongue in cheek

Have to admit I've got a couple of extras from my council for the same idea but I'm justifying it on the grounds that we were having our garden rubbish taken away "for free" (i.e. paid by our council tax) then they decided they could increase their revenue by making us pay extra each year for garden wheelie bins or paper sacks. I would have bought boxes but couldn't find any decent sized - these are the perfect size and solid, and I can use them for recycling when I've got a bulk load of paper recycling to put out every so often. I do feel a bit guilty now but my council is crap - the binmen leave more rubbish floating around than was there before they arrived (and I pick it up when I walk DDog afterwards), they hardly recycle anything (claiming it costs too much, yet a neighbouring council recycles loads more and has lower council tax), they kept missing out our road for cutting the grass verges (so we had to pay to dispose of the grass cuttings that they should have cut!) and so on. (But yes, I do have a guilty conscience now )

Not entirely sure right now is the time for tongue in cheek comments about council spending; giving the fact a lack of council funding has just caused a massive fucking tragedy in many people's minds.

Some people just can't help going for it if stuff is free. I'm the same with dog poo bags 🐶

It was clearly tongue in cheek, coral

Chloe "Clearly?" It wasn't very clear to me at all. And to be honest, looking at some of the responses, I don't think others saw it as tongue in cheek.

Of course, hilarious topic to discuss - people ripping off underfunded councils - particularly at this time.

I can't believe people think that a woman with an organised shed is part of an underfunding problem. Seriously. It's not like she just took them to stare at them.

They're not free because you'll all be paying for them via an increase in your Council Tax bill.

Our council seem to haemorrhage money. We're now on our third different recycling scheme in as many years. Each time they issue new recycling boxes in different colours. Now we're all being given new bins with different coloured lids. God knows what happens to all the old ones.

Don't get me started on the "art sculpture/fountain thing" they commissioned a local artist to design for half a million pounds . 6 months later, the fountain has broken and the whole thing is being replaced.

Not really the point of the thread but still.

I don't think this thread could be found offensive at all. Connecting it to the recent tragic fire in London is tenuous to say the least.

It's stealing; stealing from you and everyone else who pays council tax in your area. I wouldn't report her, but it would change my view of her (negatively).

Offensive, no.

Insensitive, yes (in my opinion).