A rollout of eco-friendly food bins has been blamed for chaos caused by wild donkeys breaking into them to ‘feast’ on scraps – and spreading disease worries.
Plastic caddies to recycle leftovers have been distributed to residents in villages across Hampshire’s picturesque New Forest this month for the first time.
Yet locals are now raising concerns about hazardous knock-on effects.
There are concerns that livestock historically roaming free in the area – such as not only donkeys but also ponies and pigs – will find the discarded food irresistible.
And now within just weeks of the caddies’ introduction, donkeys have been spotted eating food out of the bins at locations across the southern English region.
Photos taken in Brockenhurst, a large village in the national park, show several of the animals gathered around a toppled bin – tucking in to scraps strewn across the road.
Councillors at the Conservative-controlled local authority running the rollout have admitted the new arrangements ‘may take some time to get used to’.
But local campaigners say the damage being done so far was ‘exactly what we thought would happen’ – and forecast even worse ahead.
Posting photos of donkeys on Facebook, New Forest resident Gail Whitcher advised neighbours to keep their food waste bins inside their gates – as she described the scenes so far as ‘chaos’.
She urged: ‘Please can people who live down Sway Road take their bins in and put their food waste bins inside their gates.
‘The donkeys have knocked over the waste bins into the road and have had a feast all the way down the road on the food waste bins which I witnessed them opening. It’s chaos.’
There are thought to be about 200 free-roaming donkeys in the New Forest national park, all cared for by the Commoners – locals who have the right to graze animals.
The animals are said to be vital to the area’s ecosystem, yet have prompted worries.
The Commoners have said they are worried that the roaming livestock could contract foot and mouth disease or African swine fever from the food waste and might prove to be ‘extremely dangerous’.
Their comments comes as New Forest Disirict Council pushed ahead with a contentious bin scheme that had been first approved in 2022.
Under the £5.6million programme, food waste caddies have been delivered to residents in Brockenhurst, New Milton, Lymington and surrounding areas between April this year and this month.
Andrew Parry-Norton, chairman of the New Forest Commoners Defence Association voluntary group, is among those alarmed by the impact so far.
He said: ‘This is exactly what we thought would happen and I think it is only going to get worse.
‘If the donkeys start working out how to get into these bins then they will keep doing it and the diseases will continue to spread, which is just not fair on the animals.
‘And it will only get worse in the autumn when the pigs come out as they really will eat anything.
‘If the diseases spread then it could cost the farming industry, which is already in a tough place, millions if not billions of pounds to deal with. That is not an exaggeration.
‘We are all for recycling especially as the area is so connected to nature but it needs to be done in the right way.
‘We just want the council and other agricultural institutions to come together to create a solution. It’s a different issue to that in urban areas.
‘I believe that the bins need tougher locks that don’t come open if the bins fall over and to be put out at the right time by the homeowners.’
Mr Parry-Norton previously raised concerns at the Verderers’ court, which ‘regulates and protects the New Forest’s unique agricultural commoning practices’.
He said earlier this year: ‘New Forest District Council is going to be supplying food waste bins for weekly collections – the advice is that these bins are left outside the gate and then residents top them up from a smaller kitchen waste bin.
‘In the UK it is illegal to feed or allow kitchen waste to be fed to pigs.
‘Not only could this a problem for pigs but also donkeys and ponies who will quickly realise this could become a potential food source.
‘We, the CDA, ask the verderers to persuade New Forest District Council to retract their advice and request that these bins are kept on the residents premises where stock do not have access to it.’
Households in the national park have each been given a 23l brown outdoor food waste recycling caddy and a 5l grey indoor food waste recycling caddy.
The council said food waste is being taken to an anaerobic digestion facility where it would be used to create fertiliser and renewable energy.
Jack Davies, councillor for Pennington and former mayor of Lymington, said his ward was being used as a ‘guinea pig for the rest of the New Forest’.
He told the Telegraph: ‘The teething problems that we are having will be ironed out, but that is no comfort to us in the first phase as there are clearly issues. The new bins feel cheap.’
Announcing the latest rollout earlier this month, the district council’s portfolio holder for environment and sustainability Geoffrey Blunden had said: ‘We’re asking residents in the first phase of the new waste service to make the change of putting food waste into the caddies instead of the black sacks of old.
‘Like with the sack service, food waste will still be collected every week, but crucially it will now be recycled and reduce what goes in the general waste bin.’
The local authority said it was providing leaflets explaining what can and cannot go in food waste recycling, as well as a starter-roll of caddy liners.
Cllr Blunden added: ‘We know this is a new way of doing things and may take some time to get used to.
‘Our collection crews will also be adjusting to collecting food waste for the first time, and new collection routes.
‘By working together, it will make a big impact for our environment, our district, and future generations.’
A New Forest District Council spokesperson said: ‘Our new waste collection service launched in a third of the district two weeks ago, including a new food waste recycling service using caddies, and the introduction of wheelie bins for general waste and recycling.
‘The move to bins and caddies is already leading to a massive improvement in street cleanliness. The previously used rubbish sacks were often ripped open by the free roaming animals, as well as seagulls, and foxes.
‘We ask residents to store their food waste caddies within their property boundary, except on collection day, and to lock them using the handle.
‘We appreciate the concerns being raised about animals accessing the food waste and are continuing to monitor this in the early days of the new service.’
