A BLIND woman who lived for many years in Rhyl or Prestatyn said she was “terrified out of my wits” during her return to the towns last month as she tried navigate pavements full of bins.

Caron Jones now lives in Scotland, but returned to North Wales at the end of the June to celebrate her father’s 90th birthday.

She said she wanted to raise awareness of how the rubbish and recycle bins may be impacting on more visually impaired people like her in the area.

“I have lived most of my life in Rhyl and Prestatyn, so know them really well,” said, who walks with the assistance of a cane.

“Unfortunately, on this visit, I spent much of my time terrified out of my wits, because trying to navigate the pavements with all of the rubbish bins on them was a nightmare.

“I wanted to walk from Rhyl town centre along Wellington Road to the Marine Lake, but spent most of the time having to walk on the busy road, as there were so many bins on the pavement.”

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On June 3, the council introduced changes to recycling and waste collections, including new containers and weekly collections for recyclable materials, and the scrapping of the blue wheelie bin.

Since then, some residents have been required to separate their “dry” recycling using a new three-tier “Trolibocs”.

There is also a free new weekly collection service for small electrical items, household batteries and textiles.

But the council has so far issued multiple apologies for residents across the county not having their bins collected on time, if at all, since June 3.

Caron added: “Councillors want to improve the environment with the recycling, and as someone with a degree in environmental management, I get it.

“However, the streets are now littered with rubbish bins, which are both unhygienic and obstructive to any pedestrian.

“Even if I had been able to bring my guide dog with me - on this occasion, I was unable to - I would still have had to rely on having to step out into the road simply to walk to a public place.”

Caron said the most difficult areas to walk in Rhyl were Wellington Road and Rhuddlan Road.

In Prestatyn, she found Linden Drive hardest, and the area surrounding Prestatyn High School.

“It really doesn’t help when you also have people riding their bikes and scooters along the pavement at a fast rate,” she added.

“Children, anyone who is physically impaired, or indeed any pedestrian, are at risk by these obstacles, whether you have sight or not.”

In response to Caron’s comments, a spokesperson for Denbighshire County Council said: “Kerbside collection of waste and recyclable material has always been made from outside properties to allow crews sufficient access to carry out the service.