THE leader of Thanet council embarked on a one-man crusade to get to grips with rubbish problems this week when he tackled residents whose waste was all over isle streets.

Cllr Sandy Ezekiel went door to door in Ramsgate, asking residents without wheelie bins to use black bins to protect their rubbish from seagulls.

Squeaky clean Matthew Kirby, 31, a pharmaceutical rep, was the first to face the leader’s questions. He said: “We put our rubbish in boxes to stop the seagulls and we buy decent rubbish sacks. Black bins get blown all over the place and the lids get pinched. I think wheelie bins will solve the problem.”

Cllr Ezekiel walked up the same street to where waste, including soiled nappies, had been dragged across the pavement.

Carole Goulder, 67, said: “I think the mess is absolutely disgusting. I was up at 5am throwing water at the seagulls to stop them tearing open my bin bags. Personally, I think people should invest in black bins – but what happened to our wheelie bins?”

Cllr Ezekiel said: “We’re trying to encourage people to put their waste in their front garden or buy a black bin.”

He explained that there was no money for wheelie bins for the foreseeable future.

Around the corner Peter Borrough, 60, was trying to protect his neighbour’s rubbish from the gull menace. Mr Borrough, a civil engineer, said: “My neighbour puts her bag out and I wrap another bag around it to protect it from seagulls. I don’t mind doing it because we are happy to help. I will try and convince them to invest in a black bin.”

Unemployed bricklayer Tony Hamilton was cycling past when he spotted Cllr Ezekiel and pulled over to vent his frustration at the lack of recycling facilities.

He said: “What we need is two large communal bins which we can all dump our rubbish in.”

Turner Contemporary marketing assistant Rachel Furlong was walking her children to school when she joined the discussion. She said: “Why do we have to drive to Sandwich to do our recycling? I’d like wheelie bins.”

Cllr Ezekiel concluded by talking to mum-of-two Amber Ferguson, 28, who was upset by mess all over the street but then discovered it was her rubbish. Simon Stait, 42, backed the leader and wanted to see everyone buying black bins.