EAST Lothian Council has been accused of behaving like the "bin police" after putting stickers on large family bins warning that they will be taken away if misused.

The local authority moved its household waste collection from fortnightly to once every three weeks earlier this year, sparking a wave of protests on social media from residents who said the collections were not often enough.

Now it has been revealed that large bins, which are available for households with six or more residents who can show that they use recycling services as well, come with a red warning.

An image of the sticker which is being put on the bins was shared by a resident on Facebook. It says “Please note:- If any recyclable items are found in this 360L bin. The bin will be removed and replaced with a standard 240L bin.” (sic)

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Reacting to the sticker on the 'East Lothian Residents against 3 Weekly Bin Collection' Facebook page, which has more than 1,600 members, one member said: “That’s kind of a form of bullying and they shouldn’t be putting that on bins.”

Another user asked: “Could they not just put 'do not put recyclable materials in this bin' instead of telling you what they're gonna do to you, that is shocking!”

While a third said: “I see ELC aren’t spending any money on charm school for their employees.”

There was even criticism of the grammar used in the warning, which has a full stop in the middle of it where a comma should be used instead.

East Lothian Council said that the warning was meant to remind people of the correct use for the bigger bin, adding that crews would not be checking them to see if they had recycling material in them.

A spokesperson said: “A condition of receiving a larger-sized bin is that residents should fully participate in available recycling services to reduce their waste volume.

“If they continue to struggle with capacity after receiving the larger bin, we would work with them to investigate the reasons behind this and find solutions.

"The sticker is a reminder to recycle where they can; crews will not check bin contents.”