A rubbish disposal company in Brighton has received a stop and desist letter over its Lord of the Rings-themed logo.
Lord of the Bins is a firm co-owned by Dan Walker and Nick Lockwood that promises potential clients that it only takes ‘one ring to remove it all’.
That hasn’t gone down well with Middle-earth Enterprises, the company that holds the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
On Friday’s broadcast of Good Morning Britain, the couple argued they weren’t too ‘bad,’ but rather ‘near to the line,’ and they said they’re ‘proud’ of their amusing name.
Since receiving an email from Middle-earth, the pair has been on the verge of either a possible battle with a multi-million dollar business or a re-branding of their firm, which has expanded from one van to ‘a few fans and a couple of guys’ joining the squad.
‘All jokes aside, it has been keeping us awake at night,’ said Dan. ‘We’re having to deal with all the coverage and everything we’ve had, we have a family life and we’re still trying to work.

‘And also, in the back of our minds, it is still niggling at us that we’re gonna get a response and we might still have to shut everything down.’
The company has been offered free legal assistance on trademarks, and while Middle-earth Enterprises did not react to GMB‘s request for comment, Dan and Nick took advantage of the chance to defend their case.
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‘We’re just a small waste clearance firm based down in Brighton. We didn’t even think they’d notice who we are,’ Nick said. ‘I think this sheds light on the bigger problem of big corporations stifling creative freedom of expression by having more money.
‘We might be close to edge with some of our branding and name, but there’s loads of companies that just base it on a similar name and they get stifled.’
People have offered their own suggestions for prospective name modifications, with Dan’s favourites including Dustbin Bieber, Bin Diesel, and Bindiana Jones.
The GMB crew also submitted their own proposals, with Bin-dependence Day edging out The Greatest Binmen, while the duo joked that Forrest Dump wasn’t an option because they ‘don’t want Tom Hanks on our case’.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV1.