More Spy Cameras

You know, I think I know what’s going to happen here:

A council is to hide a camera in a bin bag to catch residents who do not follow new rules about putting out the rubbish.

To enforce the new rules, a camera will be placed in a rubbish bag and
left in an alleyway to blend in with the surroundings to catch
offenders. Those filmed breaking the rules will be given a ticking off.

The tiny covert camera, which has cost Weymouth and Portland Council,
Dorset, up to £10,000, will also help catch householders who put their
rubbish out too early or too late.

Mr Bury said the device will not be hooked up to a control room and staff will study the footage after a few hours filming.

He
said refuse collectors will be alerted as to when and where it will
placed in bin bags to stop them carting it off as rubbish.

A terribly interesting new sport for the burghers of Weymouth, don’t you think? Exactly the sort of thing that would, in years gone by, appeal to my nephews in fact. Where is the camera? Ooooh, look, could it be that bag over there? My, my, these people, fly tipping rubbish. We’ll have to put it in the proper pile, the one for the dustmen to collect.

Munch munch, crunch crunch, byee to another £10,000 of the ratepayer’s money.

What fun, eh?

7 responses

  1. Kay Tie Avatar
    Kay Tie

    “Munch munch, crunch crunch, byee to another £10,000 of the ratepayer’s money.”
    Funnily enough, exactly my first reaction. Followed rapidly by “you can get gizmos that shine out light for spotting cameras so it’s going to be a lot easier to find this camera”.

  2. JuliaM Avatar
    JuliaM

    I can’t believe that anyone would:
    a) propose such a ludicrously easy-to-foil scheme in the first place, and then
    b) announce exactly how easy it is to foil to the press…

  3. Unless it’s all just a cunning wheeze to encourage people like Tim’s nephews to go around looking for fly-tipped bags of rubbish to place in the proper piles for the binmen to collect, in the hope they’ll get lucky and find the bag with the camera in.

  4. dearieme Avatar
    dearieme

    “Too early”. So what are you meant to do when you know you won’t be at home on the evening when you normally put the rubbish out? Store it for another bloody fortnight?

  5. I’ve been increasingly puzzled by the recent surge of references in the news to the supposedly anti-social behaviour of residents who put out waste bins “too early” for emptying or are deemed tardy about retrieving bins after waste has been collected. Surely we aren’t talking ASBOs yet?
    I mean, how are residents to know when is too early and tardy overly so? Is this an opportune moment to consider restoring the tried and tested wartime practice of appointing neighbourhood wardens equipped with rattles and whistles but to signal approved neighbourhood times for putting out and retrieving waste bins and so alleviate the uncertainty?

  6. JuliaM Avatar
    JuliaM

    “Surely we aren’t talking ASBOs yet?”
    Give it time….

  7. My brother was fined £50 for putting out the rubbish 24 hours early because he was going on holiday.
    http://pyloank.blogspot.com/2006/05/i-feel-so-dirty.html

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