The former mayor of Lytton says he’s been locked out from dumping his trash the way he’d like to at the town’s transfer station.

Chris O’Connor said Monday he and some other residents have been opening the gates at the Lytton transfer station so they can easily dump out their garbage.

The gates and rails were erected to prevent people from falling and getting hurt. But O’Connor said they get in the way and make tossing out trash difficult.

When he asked the operator at the station about the lock, which he discovered Saturday, he said he was told it was put on to keep him and another person from opening it.

“I have big grass containers and when it gets wet, I can’t lift those over the top. It’s a stupid rule,” he said.

O’Connor said he tried to make an appointment to speak to the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board about the lock, but was told it should go to the solid-waste management committee. He said his issue isn’t about solid waste, it’s about being locked out.

Rails and gates have been installed on transfer stations and landfills throughout the region after people have fallen and been injured. The City of Kamloops was successfully sued a few years ago by a man who fell and lost his leg in a landfill mishap.

TNRD environmental health services manager Don May said the gates are for commercial use.

“Our standard procedures are to keep those gates locked,” he said.

“We’ll open them for a commercial vehicle. If people leave them open, someone else can come along and if they fell in, we’re looking at a lawsuit. We don’t want someone to get hurt.”

May said there is an attendant on site who will help out if someone needs a hand getting their garbage over the rails.

“I think most attendants would help someone out if they needed it,” he said.

“They are a bit awkward, no doubt about it. But we don’t want someone to get hurt badly.”