ON it goes, the business of councils doing less themselves when it comes to collecting domestic refuse and making householders do more.

But in addition to cluttering up people's yards and gardens with unasked-for extra bins and expecting folk to sort their refuse in order to aid the pious recycling drives that expert scientists are now saying are a waste of time, councils are getting ever more bossy with it.

It's bad enough expecting people -- old folk especially -- to trundle heavy wheelie bins to the kerbside or into the back alley and return them to their premises after they have been emptied, when once the bins were collected and put back by the dustmen paid to do so.

But now we have Blackburn with Darwen Council warning that people will have their wheelie bins confiscated if they leave them out on the streets for more than 24 hours.

I would not mind betting that many people welcome the prospect -- when having one bin fewer will reduce the nuisance and health risk of them having theirs ponging by the back door in high summer now that it is ridiculously deemed that fortnightly collections, rather than weekly ones, are good for the environment.