A 94-year-old who was tired of waiting for her bin to be collected amid a strike by refuse workers has wheeled it to the tip herself.

It took Nan Miller more than an hour to complete the two-mile trek from her home in Holters Mill, Canterbury, to the city’s Vauxhall Road recycling centre.

The great-gran, who has a heart condition, had been waiting three weeks for her garden waste to be picked up following the industrial action launched 10 days ago.

She says she had warned Canterbury City Council that if her green bin was not emptied by 3.30pm on Friday, she would take matters into her own hands.

People living in the district have to pay £47.25 a year, on top of their council tax, to have their garden waste collected.

Ahead of her march to the tip, Ms Miller told KentOnline: “If they think they can get away with it, well I’m jolly well going to show them that they can’t.

“I’m fed up to the back teeth – which are my own. My bin needs emptying so I’m going to push it to the tip myself.

“They think: ‘Oh well, it can wait’. But I’m sorry, I’ve given up waiting.

“It’s going to put a strain on me, of course, but my roots are in the north and we are a determined people – don’t play with me.”

The strike was launched on Wednesday, July 5, by members of the GMB union who work for Canenco – the waste contractor set-up and owned by the city council.

So far, three pay rise offers have been rejected, with union bosses warned not to expect a fourth.

Non-GMB members have still been working during this period, meaning household waste has been collected. But as black bins have been prioritised, recycling and garden waste collections have been more limited.

GMB say members could be striking until at least August 20, unless councillors in Canterbury take action to resolve the dispute.

This has meant Ms Miller’s green bin has been gradually filling up for three weeks, while she has been growing exasperated.

The great-grandmother-of-two has suffered two cardiac arrests and was due to visit the hospital for an appointment about a blood clot when she set out on Friday.

But determined to prove to the council that she was not making idle threats, Ms Miller wrestled her bin along the narrow pavements of Broad Oak Road towards the recycling centre.

She invited KentOnline to document her journey – and along the way she occasionally held up her thumb to the traffic to try and hail a ride in a passing white van or lorry.

“This is a real pain in the neck,” Ms Miller grumbled.

“And I’ve got a real pain in my neck – I’m not just doing this for fun.

“I’ve already walked three times as far as I did when I had to do this years ago and I thought I was more than old enough to be doing it then.”

The former French interpreter told how she had dropped off her bin at the now-closed Serco depot in Kingsmead Road in 2014 when she said a number of failed collections left her with no choice.

Almost a decade later and in blustery conditions, Ms Miller realised while walking on Friday that she was not going to be able to reach the dump before it closed for the day.

KentOnline ran ahead to advise staff of the late-arriving but very determined customer, but the tip had already shut.

Fortunately, the driver of a passing Range Rover took sympathy on Ms Miller and stopped to give her a ride for the final stretch.

Nadine Fleming, who was on her way home to Sturry at the time, said: “I saw her struggling along the road with a wheelie bin in one hand and walking stick in the other and it broke my heart.

“So I pulled over and we put the bin in the back.”

Another good Samaritan – Taylor Nickolson, who works at the Tyre Pros around the corner from the tip – offered to empty Ms Miller’s garden refuge bin into his own and gave her a lift home afterwards.

A spokesman for Canterbury City Council said: "We share Mrs Miller's frustration about her garden bin and are sorry she felt that she had no option other than to wheel her bin down to Vauxhall Road.

"On Friday afternoon we rang on a number of occasions and also emailed her to say that Canenco had catch-up crews working and would be returning to her on Saturday, but unfortunately there was no answer to any of this communication.

"Despite the ongoing strike action by GMB members, crews have been out working hard, getting to as many bins as possible. This includes the full black bin service every day and good numbers of garden bins.”

The council has now reached a pay agreement with Unison members of the Canenco workforce – £14.45 an hour for drivers (up £1.87 an hour, a 14.9% increase) and £11.61 for loaders (up 95p an hour, an 8.9% increase).

The spokesman added: “We would urge GMB members to accept the deal that remains on the table and end their strike."

GMB, the union for waste and recycling workers, says it has given notice to Canterbury Council’s contractor Canenco for further strike dates, and it will now be taking strike action until at least August 20.

Frank Macklin, GMB Regional Organiser said: “GMB have been overwhelmed with the positive feedback from the vast majority of Canterbury residents, including many people coming down to the picket line with sweets, cakes and food, as well as messages of support.

“The strike is set to continue today, tomorrow and going forward until the contractor the Council owns agrees to pay £15 per hour to HGV drivers and £12 per hour for loaders and street cleaners.

“Our members are not making unreasonable demands, just for the market pay rates agreed for the same roles in neighbouring authorities, such as Dover, Folkestone, Ashford, Swale, Brighton, Worthing, Chichester and Winchester amongst others.”

“GMB encourages residents to contact their local councillors for an update on kerbside collections going forward.”