How did an Ayrshire bin end up in a German village?

A North Ayrshire Council bin has swapped Saltcoats for sauerkraut - after being unexpectedly found in a German village.

The wheelie bin was spotted in the village of Viernau by an intrigued local, who took to social media to ask if anyone had any idea how it had arrived there.

North Ayrshire Council told BBC Scotland News it was uncertain how the container had managed to wind up abroad, but the continental jaunt could be linked to its manufacturer, the German company SSI Schaffer.

Comments in the Dull Men's Club Facebook group suggested it had perhaps fallen foul of safety regulations in the UK, and then been reused in Germany instead.

Christian Kühne posted the image, and wrote: "A wheelie bin from the North Ayrshire Council appears in front of my company. In the middle of Germany.

"I'm confused and curious what might be the story behind it. Is someone in the North Ayrshire Region missing his wheelie bin?"

Commentors also pointed out it was a combination of a brown bin - meaning it should be used for garden waste - with a blue bin lid, which should be for paper and recycling.

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council confirmed to BBC Scotland News that Viernau - in the state of Thuringia in the eastern part of Germany - had not been added to the local authority's usual bin collection routes.

They said: "This German street is definitely not part of our regular collection route so we're very curious as to how it ended up here.

"We can say that this bin was manufactured more than 20 years ago by a German company, SSI Schaffer, so it may have been a spare from the manufacturer which found its way into local use.

"As bins are the property of residents, it's also possible that it could have been taken to Germany by a former resident moving to the area and may have been used to store items in the move."

The spokesperson said the council would be interested to find out how it arrived.

Social media suggestions ranged from realistic possibilities about it being reused by the manufacturers to pondering whether an unfortunate person in Ayrshire was currently wondering where their bin had gone.