COUNCIL bosses have stashed thousands of unused new bins next to Irvine’s iconic Beach Park.

More than 2,000 brand new purple bins are laying unused in a lock-up in Portland Road while NAC chiefs figure out where to store them.

The Times can reveal the hoard consists of 2,261 purple bins at the Portland Road site.

The eyewatering figure is all the more bizarre because it is more double the number of any other colour bin.

NAC currently has 1,055 grey bins in storage, 600 blue bins and 693 brown bins.

The Council is also advertising extra purple bins for free to North Ayrshire residents. But householders need to pay £43.33 for an extra bin of any other colour.

NAC say the bins are being stored at Portland Road until they find a new home in the spring.

A spokeswoman for North Ayrshire council said: “When we introduced the purple bin last April, we took stock of tens of thousands of bins in advance of delivery to individual households. Such quantities could not be accommodated at our waste management site.

“We have therefore held these at a secure storage site on a temporary basis. However, now that stock levels have dropped, we will be relocating the remaining bins in the spring.

“The bins stored are a mixture of existing stock including those that have been returned when residents have asked to share bins or utilise larger communal bins.

“There is also stock to provide to residents moving into new housing developments as well as essential ongoing stock for replacements.”

NAC also say they don’t charge for new bins for the first year of any new recycling scheme. However, in recent years additional bins have only been available for a charge of £39.95.

A spokeswoman said: “Since its introduction last April, there has never been a charge for the purple bin. This is because our bins are free to residents for a period of one year from the introduction of the new recycling scheme.

“This is for a number of reasons such as to allow new housing developments to be completed, and to allow us time to work with residents to provide the optimum number and size of bins for their property, while trying to minimise the impact on areas where a large number of bins are presented.

“The price charged for bins is reviewed annually. This year, the price has risen £3.38 – this includes delivery.”