Sign up to our free newsletter for the top North Wales stories sent straight to your e-mail Sign up now! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Parents on Anglesey will have to show their children’s birth certificates if they want the council to continue to collect dirty nappies.

According to town hall chiefs, waste management teams have “evidence that most children are potty trained between ages of two and three”, so the council wants to make people prove their child’s age if they want to receive the service.

But families who will be affected by the changes say they are ridiculous and do not take account of different rates of child development, or that some disabled children may still need nappies beyond a certain age.

The changes are being brought in as the council tries to meet recycling targets and dodge fines by the Welsh government.

The fortnightly nappy collection will only be provided to families with children up to three years old, and everyone else will have to manage to squeeze the soiled nappies in with their normal household waste to be collected only once every three weeks.

Steph Roberts from Gwalchmai , said: “I think its disgraceful that they’ve placed an age limit on the service.

“I have a three year old who’s currently being potty trained, and I know I’m not the only one in the same situation.”

Another family who have a five-year-old disabled daughter have been told to contact the health board for assistance after being told there will be no exceptions to the rule.

Ian Cheney’s daughter, Olivia, suffers from Down’s Syndrome and attends Canolfan Addysg y Bont in Llangefni .

Mr Cheney, who lives in Amlwch with Olivia and his partner, Heather, said: “I automatically assumed that Livy would be eligible for the council service because of her disability.

“She has some health issues related to her down’s syndrome, including holes in her heart and some difficulty walking. At the moment, with fortnightly collections, its a struggle but we usually make it. But we have no hope of being able to cope for three weeks.

“The council obviously knows it hard for families to cope with three weekly collections, which is why they’ve brought in this fortnightly nappy service.

“But Livy is obviously bigger than a toddler, so her nappies are also taking up more space. I’d have thought that disabled children who still need to wear nappies, would be automatically eligible.”

In response, an Anglesey Council spokesman said: “Evidence collated by our Waste Management Team suggests that most children are potty trained between the ages of two and three.

“It has therefore been agreed to offer this service up until a child’s third birthday.

“Requesting a copy of a child’s birth certificate will allow us to monitor the number of children benefiting from the service and their respective ages.

“It should be noted that this service will only be provided to the home address of the child and does not extend to any nursery, crèche or child minding service they may attend.”

She added: “There is another service which is readily available for individuals who are unwell or have medical needs called the Offensive Non-infectious Household Waste Collection. This service is available upon request from the relevant health care provider, via a prescribed application form.”

Drop in sessions, to explain the waste collection changes which will also see an orange recyling box introduced, will be held at Beaumaris Leisure Centre on Wednesday September 28 and Amlwch Library on Thursday, both between 4-7pm.

What do you think about this story? Leave your comments below