A Whitchurch man who staged a one-man protest against the district council was arrested and handcuffed by the police after he blocked a dustbin lorry’s route for 20 minutes.

Allan Weaver, of Sedgeford, was later “unarrested” following his protest which was sparked after the council refused to take ashes from his Rayburn cooker to the tip.

The stand-off came about following changes to the way North Shropshire District Council collects its rubbish after it was deemed a health and safety risk if ashes are not bagged up.

Mr Weaver, 61, put the ashes straight into his grey wheelie bin but refuse collectors would not take them unless they were bagged up as there was a risk the ash could get into their eyes.

He said: “The refuse collectors called the police on their mobile or got on to their headquarters who called them. The police officer was nice about it when he arrived and he discussed the situation with me very politely.

“I was arrested for disturbing the peace and taken towards the car to allow the dustbin lorry to get away and then he unarrested me.”

Retired Mr Weaver said he did not think it was very environmentally friendly to ask residents to use bags for ashes. He said an alternative would be to give refuse collectors protective goggles.

Rian Bentley, district council spokeswoman, said: “We would ask people to co-operate with our crews as they’re out their doing their job and want to get the refuse collected so they can get on their way.”

She said the council was not planning to bring in goggles for crews.