Flaxmere community rallies for 'pink-cheeked' truck driver after he drops rubbish load on street

More than 20 people helped collect rubbish which had fallen from a truck and onto Henderson Rd in Flaxmere on Tuesday. Photo / Supplied.

It could have been messy. It could have been embarrassing. Instead it was, in the words of one witness, "beautiful".

On Tuesday a driver from privately owned refuse disposal company Clean Earth accidentally released several trailer loads of rubbish from its truck, scattering it down Henderson Rd in Flaxmere.

The sight is one that will stay with local resident Ruth Lawrence - not because of the amount of rubbish, but because of the way people came and helped the driver.

Children were brought out of school, residents came out of their houses, as a crowd of all shapes and sizes descended to pick up the mess about midday.

"It was a beautiful thing to actually see," Lawrence said.

Lawrence and her son had just dropped rubbish to the dump when they heard a "loud bang" and found Henderson Rd covered in rubbish.

"I grabbed as many tools as I could, started walking up the road, and it moved me to tears, people, not even asking, from both sides of our street, coming and helping.

"It was done within about an hour, and then the council came in and swept up the road and you wouldn't have noticed."

About six trailer loads of rubbish were collected by up to 30 people.

She said Flaxmere Primary School principal, Robyn Isaacson "in her flash shoes" was on her way back to school when she stopped, collected a few children and got stuck in to help.

"Our Flaxmere community is way better than the stories we hear about," Lawrence said.

"Beautiful things actually happen out here in Flaxmere and I was glad I was able to report at least one of them."

Lawrence said that when she spoke to the driver, he was "so overwhelmed by the help given to him".

The rubbish had "dragged quite a way" down the road before he realised what was happening, she said.

"It was his first time driving that truck and he made a mistake. But he was beyond grateful to the people down Henderson Rd and those that stopped to help him in Flaxmere."

Clean Earth company director Deborah Burnside said the driver had been using a commercial front load vehicle, with a different tailgate configuration to what he was used to.

The driver has been a part of the company for 22 years and is a "valued employee".

Burnside said the rubbish was not hazardous and did not pose a threat to anyone.

"He was thrilled everyone came to his aid and we were too. He was most pink-cheeked about losing some rubbish but it was beautifully tidied up by everyone," Burnside said.

"Downers turned up and dealt with the glass, the community dealt with some bits and pieces, and he clipped his tailgate shut properly and went on his way."