STINKING rubbish heaped high in Salisbury Market Place will soon be a thing of the past.

Wiltshire Council plans to scrap the bins on October 16 after regular complaints from businesses and residents, the Journal can reveal.

Businesses around the square that use the bins now have six weeks to make alternative arrangements.

Councillor Richard Clewer, who oversaw the square's refurbishment in 2013, said: "It's been a major issue that's been raised by the public and businesses about the way the square looks and the smell coming form the bins.

"We have looked at all the options and there really isn't any easy way of doing it, I wish there was."

These ideas included raising the walls, adding a roof, and even building a wooden platform over the top, but none were found to be suitable.

Cllr Clewer took responsibility for what he described as an "unsuccessful and unpopular" feature of the square, and said it was important to make the area as attractive as possible for tourists and residents.