PENSIONERS are fuming after being told they must pay to replace at least 13 bins stolen in a spate of bizarre thefts.

The Durham County Council waste and recycling bins were stolen from outside old people’s sheltered bungalows and flats on Woodland Road, Esh Winning, between Thursday and Sunday.

Several pensioners reported the thefts to police.

But when they contacted the council, they were told they must pay £20 for each replacement.

Catherine Grimwood, 78, who had both her waste and recycling bins taken, said: "Having to pay for a new one is adding insult to injury.”

Doreen Littlewood, 83, who also had two bins stolen, said: “It’s inconvenient because I’ve had to put my rubbish in a neighbour’s bin.”

County councillor Jean Chaplow, who lives in the flats and is also a victim of the bin thieves, said: “I can’t understand people stealing bins with rubbish in. It’s ridiculous.”

She added that she had contacted the council to ask it to look again at the charge.

Oliver Sherratt, the council’s head of direct services, said the £20 charge to cover the cost of a new bin and delivery was introduced in April 2011, as replacing damaged, missing or stolen bins was costing the council £120,000 a year.

“We recognise that people who have had their bin stolen repeatedly should not be penalised and therefore we would not apply a further charge if a bin is reported stolen again within a year of the first occasion.

“In this particular case we have had no previous reports of the bins being stolen from these properties,” he added.