GrundonA campaign is warning about the dangers of sleeping in bins to seek refuge as temperatures plummet this winter.
Grundon Waste Management has teamed up with homelessness charity Crisis to raise awareness of the risks of seeking shelter in them.
The company, which has depots in Banbury and Wallingford in Oxfordshire, as well as Beenham in Berkshire, said one of its drivers found a man sleeping inside one of them last December.
David Goodwin, who works in Banbury, found the bin was heavy and on investigating further found the occupant.
“As drivers, we are always trained to be alert to anything unusual and it was one of those split-second moments when you realise something isn’t right,” he said.
“I immediately stepped back from the bin and was hugely relieved to find that although the gentleman inside was a bit shaken up, he was unharmed.
“He told me that previously, he would listen out for the sound of a diesel engine as a warning of a vehicle approaching.
“Because I was in an electric vehicle, which is much quieter, he didn’t hear it approach.”
Reg Hodson, Grundon’s head of safety, health, environment and quality, said as quieter electric vehicles became more common, its staff would need to be “more vigilant”.
Typical signs that someone might be inside a bin might include broken locks, rubbish scattered on the ground and evidence of a person’s belongings nearby.
Francesca Albanese, Crisis’s executive director of policy and social change, said: “We are tragically seeing more and more people forced to sleep on our streets.
“Faced with danger and uncertainty, people can seek shelter from the cold and to keep themselves hidden from view for their own safety.
“We are pleased to be able to work with Grundon on this campaign, which we hope will keep more people safe from harm.”