By politics.co.uk staff

A local council is refusing to sack a binman who defecated on a pensioner's drive.

The pensioner, outraged after spotting the binman operating elsewhere in the area, is demanding £1,500 in compensation and wants the offender to lose his job with Malvern Hills district council, according to local reports.

But instead of giving its employee the bum's rush the council - while expressing sympathy with the pensioner's plight - is also standing by its binman.

"The issue of a lack of toilet facilities for our staff who are on the road all day is of course a sensitive one, particularly in rural areas where there are far fewer amenities," chief executive Chris Bocock said.

"We are reviewing our current practices to see if we can make any improvements."

The council quickly dispatched an "operative" to clean up the mess. It said the binman responsible had been "disciplined" after conducting a probe into the incident.

Malvern Hills' head of community services Ivor Pumfrey bafflingly told the Worcester News that the council "has specific practices in place to ensure this sort of event does not happen".

He added: "Unfortunately, on this occasion, it was down to human failing on the part of the member of staff involved. We have apologised unreservedly to the customer."

Bocock is now hoping a further meeting with the pensioner will resolve the situation.

"We did as an organisation apologise unreservedly to the complainant for the distress that this incident has caused," he added.

"However, I understand he remains frustrated at some aspects of the council's action and I shall therefore be meeting with him to offer my personal apologies on behalf of the council in an attempt to resolve the situation."