Battle of the bins

They are as distinguished a collection of soldiers as ever fought for Queen and country.

Over half a century they have served in troublespots across the world, from Aden to the Malayan Emergency.

But now trustees of the Cavalry and Guards Club in Piccadilly, whose ranks include a colonel and a majorgeneral, face their last great engagement: the Battle of the Bins.

They have become embroiled in a row with the club's neighbours about rubbish bins - and are being sued for damages of up to ?50,000.

The neighbours, a banker and a golf shop millionaire, claim there is a stench coming from the refuse area and say they are disturbed by the sound of bottle bins being emptied early in the morning.

They are seeking an injunction against the club banning it from storing rubbish bins or any waste in Down Street Mews.

But the club and its trustees - who include Major-General John Strawson, a former Chief of Staff, UK Land Forces, and Colonel Thomas Hall, former commanding officer of the 11th Hussars - are not ready to give up without a fight.

They are preparing to contest the case and have launched a counter-claim that they are entitled to put their empty claret bottles in the mews behind the club.

The neighbours are James van den Heule, global head of liquidity services at Barclays Capital, and Down Street Properties, which owns the mews house lived in by Howard Bilton, who last year made some ?22 million when he sold the American Golf Discount Centre chain of shops.

Mr Van den Heule, 32, said: "It's a nightmare. Summertime is the worst. Quite often they will have a party on a Friday evening and leave the rubbish out until it is collected at 4am on Monday. By the end of a hot summer weekend the stench is overwhelming.

"They leave raw meat lying exposed in open bins. My girlfriend came home the other day to find great hunks of meat surrounded by rats and swarming with flies.

"It is absolutely revolting. They insist on having the bins emptied between 4am and 5am because they use private contractors who charge less for night- time collections.

"The bins are dragged through the mews and emptied out in the street - the noise seems incredibly loud in the middle of the night.

"They have refused to listen to our complaints and made no effort to improve the situation."

However, the trustees, who have been named in the claim because of their position with the club rather than personal involvement in its refuse arrangements, seem to know little of the action.

One, ex-club chairman John Rodwell, formerly a Major with the Grenadier Guards, said: "I'm not terribly au fait with our bins. I am intrigued, but I know nothing."

Club secretary David Cowdery said: "The club has offered mediation and will continue to pursue that course. The rubbish has to go somewhere. If we dumped it on Piccadilly many more people would be upset."