Pembrokeshire’s new recycling collection kerbside scheme has led to concerns over personal waste being left out for everyone to potentially see, according to a councillor in Tenby.

As part of Pembrokeshire County Council’s waste collection changes to recycle the amount of waste sent to landfill, new purple bags for ‘absorbent products’ - such as nappies, incontinence care products, and colostomy bags have been included, but speaking at Tenby town council’s meeting on Tuesday night, one councillor highlighted that some local residents had approached her to point out that this element of the recycling scheme could be somewhat embarrassing.

“I applaud the purpose of the new recycling scheme, but have been approached by people stating that the purple bags are too personal to be putting out on the roadside with the rest of their rubbish,” Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter told her fellow members.

“I don’t know what the answer to this is, but very personal items go into these bags and it can be quite embarrassing for some. I don’t know if PCC can look at alternative ways to get rid of this waste.

“On a lighter note, the new collection lorry did make me smile, as it looked more like an election bus with every party’s colours on the side!” she added.

Meanwhile, confusion over the new waste system has led to a rise in bin fires, a Pembrokeshire councillor has claimed.

Chairman of the corporate overview and scrutiny committee Clr. Brian Hall said there had been “11 call outs to minor fires of the black bags” in Pembroke Dock and Pembroke recently, with others elsewhere too.

He said at the meeting on Thursday (November 7) that there was other problems beside people not having the necessary bags and boxes delivered, adding there was a “massive stockpile” at the Pembroke Dock base.

Clr. Hall said he had still not received answers to his full council questions about the current base and its capacity and lease, adding “it’s not working well” although teething problems were to be expected.

Some people were simple refusing to organise their waste and “people were burning them” he said of bin bags.

“It should have been brought in gradually and it should have been done a little bit differently,” he said.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they had been called to three refuse bin fires in the last week – two on bonfire night and a third on November 6 in Monkton.