Mutiny has erupted after a housing association banned bins from being stored on the first storey.

Optivo has ordered the move at The Maples in The Broadway, Minster, Sheppey, leaving elderly residents to lug their rubbish sacks down flights of stairs.

One woman's daughter, Chris Fielder, said: "I've had to come from Cornwall because my 95-year-old mother is under so much stress.

"She has a pacemaker fitted and can't be expected to take her rubbish to the bins on the ground floor.

"This company is victimising the elderly."

She added: "I called Swale council which said there was no problem and the dustmen were happy to collect the bins from the first floor as before. But then Optivo overruled them.

"I don't think they have the right to do this."

Dawn Newman is also up in arms. She demanded: "How does Optivo expect elderly people to take their rubbish down dangerous flights of stairs or use the ramp which runs around the front of the block of flats and gets slippery in the wet?"

Her father Willie Walsh, 85, and mother Jean, 81, live upstairs.

Mrs Walsh said: "My husband is blind in one eye and I have cancer.

"It is difficult to walk down the stairs or the ramp, especially in the winter."

Trouble began two months ago when Optivo replaced wooden railings along the first-floor balconies with metal ones.

Mrs Newman said: "They told residents the old wooden railings were a fire risk following London's Grenfell Tower blaze in 2017.

"But there are still wooden supports they haven't replaced."

She added: "At the same time, they told residents upstairs they had to stop using the specially designed alcoves on the balconies where the rubbish bins had been stored and moved the bins to the ground floor."

Neighbour Kieran Payne, who has taken on the residents' fight, said: "This is penalising the elderly and vulnerable. Optivo can't treat people like this."

Resident Paula Herbert, 71, said: "It is absolutely terrible. I think it is disgusting. We want our bins back.

Watch: The route the elderly must take to the bins using the ramp

"I had to take my rubbish down to the bins the other day and my knees started to give way. Optivo is just being a jobsworth."

About 20 homes are affected across two blocks.

Ros Lidbetter for Optivo said: "We’re really sorry residents at The Maples are unhappy with the changes to the wooden railings and the bin area being moved to downstairs but we’re following the recommendations of an independent fire risk assessment which has been carried out by our approved fire safety contractor.

"This inspection identified the bins being left on wooden balconies posed a fire hazard and a potential obstruction.

"We understand our residents want to maintain a level of independence and may not want to rely on friends, family and neighbours for assistance but as a responsible landlord it’s important we follow the advice of our fire safety experts and put measures in place to keep our residents at The Maples safe."

He added: "The safety of our residents is our number one priority."

The moves follows tighter recommendations after 72 died in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower.

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