RESIDENTS in Salford Priors dumped nearly 19 tonnes of rubbish during the village's annual skip week.

But they also dumped a heap of problems on the parish council, which organised the event.

For within a couple of hours of arriving, the skips were full and continued to be filled until they were overflowing.

When the lorry came to take them away the drivers refused to remove them but left another skip alongside.

Parish clerk Eric Mitchell and one of the councillors then had the task of transferring rubbish from one skip to the other.

The pair made quite an impression on Stratford District Council's new corporate services director Trevor Askew, who was being shown round the village by ward members Kim James, Daren Pemberton and Brian Slaughter.

Mr Askew suggested a parish/district partnership for the project which would allow the parish to reclaim some of the cost.

So although the extra skip put the parish council over budget this year, it could save them money in the future.