The inventor of the wheelie bin lock, Geoff Marshall, hopes people will find that his creation is anything but rubbish, reports The Star.
Geoff Marshall, aged 70, has designed a range of wheelie bin locks to keep them secure to reduce the risk of them being set alight by yobs or rifled through by identity thieves.
The locks can also be used on industrial bins to make it impossible for homeless people to climb into for shelter – risking death if the bins are torched or emptied into crusher trucks.
Mr Marshall, a retired engineer, is advertising his products on the internet and is in talks with councils interested in trialling them.
He has two firms lined up to manufacture the devices if he gets enough orders.
His wife Ann, who is marketing the locks, said: “When we retired we thought we would be spending our time gardening and walking the dogs, but Geoff has always invented things and there seems to be a need for these locks, so we are promoting them as best we can.
“We live in a little village where our bins are not touched but I know that in towns and cities there is a big problem with people setting them alight and rummaging through them for personal details.
“We also spoke to our bin man who told us there is a problem with homeless people climbing into big commercial bins to sleep in at night.”
Photos from Binguardian