Two flaws have emerged in the use of pest-proof bags being trialled by the Council in parts of the city.
First, for whatever reasons, certain residents on Great King Street have taken to leaving their bags permanently attached to railings (particularly along the north-west section). Here they prominently detract from the appearance of the New Town streetscape which wheelie-bin opponents profess themselves so keen to preserve.
Second, the bags are not pest-proof. As one local wrote to us this morning: 'They get used by passers-by and car-boot tidiers as casual bins, whose accumulating contents the binmen ignore since they're not presented in black plastic bags.'
So, whilst voracious gulls and foxes may have been temporarily thwarted, it appears this particular litter solution is no match for the shortcomings and self-contradictions of human nature.
It is perhaps an unnecessary solution in any case, since grey food recycling buckets – to which everyone in Edinburgh will shortly become accustomed – should render litter bags of all descriptions less attractive to vermin.