‘I’m just a poor bin, nobody wants me.’ That’s the moving opening line to a poem penned by a litter-picking volunteer searching for the owner of a ‘forgotten’ overflowing bin.

Gordon Allen says the bin outside shops on Horndean Road in Forest Park has been left neglected and overflowing for weeks – prompting him to empty it regularly himself.

Mr Allen has asked Winkfield parish and Bracknell Forest councils to take charge, amid apparent confusion over who the private owner is.

He told the News: “It’s fallen into no-man’s land. The council is playing ping-pong with it as no one wants to take responsibility.”

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Mr Allen added that, with litter often spilling out onto the pavement, the ‘whole area’ is suffering. He said: “The owners of the land do no upkeep of the car park and that incudes this particular bin.

“It overflows, goes down the car park and ends up everywhere. The whole area is suffering because of one bin not being serviced properly.”

With no-one willing to take responsibility Mr Allen sent a poem to Bracknell News in a bid to draw attention to the problem.

Swinley Forest councillor Patrick Smith said he had spoken with Mr Allen about the bin. But he said the land outside the shops was divided among several private landowners, and that it isn’t clear who is responsible for the bin.

He told the News: “It’s a privately owned bin. We’re writing to the store owners at the shops to see if we can get them to be a bit more proactive. We’re not entirely sure who’s responsible for it or who placed it there.

“Because it is a privately owned bin we can’t empty it ourselves. The owner should be picking that up alongside the other bins.”

Bracknell Forest Council confirmed that it couldn’t take responsibility for the bin. It said it ‘would encourage’ the owner to empty it, but didn’t answer questions as to whether it knows who the owner is.

Damian James, assistant director for contract services said: “This is a private bin and the responsibility to empty it lies with the landowner.

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“The council cannot take on the responsibility for emptying private bins. We would encourage the landowner to be accountable for ensuring this is done regularly.”

Mr Allen began picking and recycling litter in Forest Park after surviving a stroke. He says going for regular walks and using the litter picker is helping his recovery.

He said: “It was all about stroke recovery. I need to focus on getting my left hand and coordination working again. I found putting a litter picking stick into the left was making my brain work on the left hand side.”

His poem in full is below.

Am I a Has Bin? By Trash Gordon, volunteer recycler for Forest Park

I'm just a poor bin nobody wants me,
I stand alone outside between Topps and Teddies nursery.
Many people fill me with all sorts of crap,
After all I'm a bin I should be glad of that.
Just lately I've been feeling down,
Because all my rubbish is overflowing to the ground.
Not being emptied nearly so often,
Get the feeling I've been all but forgotten.
A friend tried to reconnect me with my management team,
Unfortunately no one's interested if my content blows away into the stream.
Then flowing down towards our wild birds and fish at Savernake,
Is there no hope of stopping this filth pouring out of me for goodness sake?
So my friend wrote this funny little ditty,
See if we can get some sense before the need of a full committee.
For the parish council to take me back under their care,
And stop my contents blowing around for all to share!
Please empty me at least three times a week,
I just want to see this shopping area clean that’s all I seek.