Brighton’s Lord of the Bins hopes Gandalf will save the deal

Nick Lockwood and Dan Walker received a letter from lawyers asking them to stop using their company name “Lord of the Bins” along with their slogan “One Ring to Remove It All” to avoid formal action against them.

The letter, seen by The Argus, reads: “Your activity is an infringement of our client’s trademark rights and is likely to lead the public to believe that your services are from Middle-earth Enterprises or that they have endorsed your activities – none of that.” what is the case.”

Lawyers also threatened to take formal legal action against the small company “to stop its illegal activity.”

The couple have sought legal advice but have been told they are unlikely to win a lawsuit against the rightsholders and could face extortionate legal fees if they lose.

Nick said: “We’re a super small company – just me and Dan collecting rubbish in Brighton.

“The Tolkien Estate isn’t going to suddenly decide that it wants to pick up rubbish – it’s completely different from its business model.”

The pair hope their bid to keep their company’s name will catch the attention of Sir Ian McKellan, who played the wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and hope he would step in to preventing the prospect of litigation action.

“Our best hope is that our story gets to Sir Ian McKellan and that we are indeed saved by Gandalf,” said Nick.

Dan and Nick hope Gandalf will come and save the company from being renamed (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

Should Gandalf not save the day for the company, Nick and Dan estimated the cost of renaming their company would exceed £5,000.

“We will be able to survive, but it would be such a huge impact and it would scupper our growth plans for the foreseeable future,” Nick said.

Ian McKellan and Middle-earth Enterprises have been contacted for comment.