YORK’S binmen are finally being allowed to wear shorts on their collection rounds – just as the weather turns nippy following months of warm summer sunshine.

City of York Council has launched a shorts-wearing trial for collection crews, which will 'inform its approach' to working in warm weather in future summers.

The development comes months after the city's refuse collectors sweltered in thick protective trousers during the summer heatwaves, when temperatures rose to a record 39C one day in July.

One binman, Lee Moran, hit the headlines in The Press and then other national media after he wore a kilt in protest at the shorts ban.

He posted on Facebook that it was going to be hot, so 'in protest of City of York Council no shorts policy, I will be wearing a KILT for work today.'

Lee, 50, of South Bank, told The Press that long trousers were insisted on by the council for health and safety reasons, as they protected against dangers such as cuts, grazes, brambles and sunburn but he asked: "What about our health and wellbeing? One of us could collapse in this heat."

He said the thick trousers were the same thick and heavy ones that he and his colleagues wore in the middle of winter, and caused sweating and chafing during heatwaves. "They're really, really heavy," he said. "It's ridiculously hot wearing them."

He said he wore the kilt while out on a round in the Tadcaster Road and Copmanthorpe area and won a lot of support from residents intrigued by his attire, but was briefly threatened with disciplinary action by managers for breaking the rules.

Lee welcomed the shorts trial this week, saying: "Hopefully we will be in shorts for the summer." He said the trial was 'going fine,' although it was 'quite cool.'

Ben Grabham, head of environmental services at the council, said the health, safety and well-being of its staff was paramount and the reason the waste collection crews wore trousers was to protect them against sharp objects that may be contained in recycling boxes or in bags.

“As outlined previously, we committed to undertake a review of the personal protective equipment worn by collection crews as part of our waste operations," he said.

"As a result of the review, we are trialling the wearing of shorts on collection rounds where there are no bags and therefore the risk of injury from sharp objects.

“The results of the trial will inform our approach to working in warm weather in future years.”

A spokesperson added that last year, a knife came through a bin bag and it was only a loader's protective gear that saved them from a very nasty accident.