Gloucester council boss rubbishes waste firm with Three Lions song

A council director has apologised for writing a derogatory song about Gloucester's waste contractor Amey following a row over "lost" recycling.

Jonathan Lund rewrote Three Lions with the lyrics "fly tipped waste in hedges" and "waste is coming home" and e-mailed it to senior council members.

Sent during World Cup 2018, it followed claims Amey "lost" 2,000 tonnes of rubbish and cost taxpayers £250,000.

Amey, which collects Gloucester's kerbside waste, declined to comment.

Mr Lund said his song was "misguided "and he fully accepts "it was a misjudgement".

The internal email was leaked to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The re-worded song, originally written by comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner and Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds, criticised Amey's waste collection and street cleaning.

The new lyrics included "Amey's hit the dirt" and "I still see that bloke with a brush, in nowt like a rush".

It was written during a row with Amey in 2018, over claims the firm had lost the equivalent of 150 bin lorries of waste to be recycled, costing Gloucester City Council £246,059.

Amey denied the claims and insisted the firm could "account for the recycled material".

In November the council announced some of Amey's management team had left and new recycling arrangements would provide £720,000 of extra income for the authority.

In a statement, Mr Lund apologised to colleagues "both at Amey and the council".

"Although this was produced in my own time and shared during a lunch break, I fully accept it was a misjudgement on my behalf," he said.

"This was a misguided attempt at raising the spirits of colleagues.

"We have since made significant progress with Amey and I look forward to continuing our relationship with them."