A MISCHEVIOUS mastermind has sparked a mystery after ten bins were given an overnight blue and yellow Minion makeover.

Dubbed the ‘Binions’, the ten council trashcans have been painted and given googly eyes and arms in one night to change them into minions.

The minions are popular characters with both children and adults, first making an appearance in Steve Carrel film Despicable Me before striking out with their own self-titled feature released this summer.

Seven of the Binions have taken up residence in Peacehaven, one has moved into Newhaven, another has been placed on the St Dunstan’s roundabout and one is on a small island in Rottingdean Pond.

Daniel Moon, from Peacehaven, spotted several of the little yellow bin monsters and took some snaps of them – saying “people are loving it”.

He said: “They have done the work on them then gone and put them out in the early hours of the morning.

“There is one the middle of Rottingdean Pond. Who is going to walk out into the middle of the pond? But someone has waded through and put a minion there.”

He said they all appeared overnight on Sunday.

Councillor Wayne Botting, mayor of Telscombe Cliffs, has been using the pictures of the "binions" to promote this weekend’s Tyefest, a family festival at Telscombe Tye this Saturday, but denies the creatures are anything to do with him.

He said: “We have Minions coming to Tyefest and as the Binions started popping up I jumped on the opportunity.

“It is absolutely fantastic, it was all done in one evening – it looks someone has been taking whole bins and making them over.

“I know it is vandalism, but it is very funny vandalism.”

Scores of people took to social media to share pictures of the "binions" as the community tried to track them down.

One person posted on Facebook “ the council should keep them” and another said “Minions rule. Brighton is not the only place for oddballs”.