End of runner beans - what now?

Hi again, I'm posting lots of questions today!

Our runner beans are drawing to a close, our neighbour on the plot next door has said to leave a few beans on the plants to get really big, and these can be the beans we save to grow next year.  Can someone tell me how to save the beans correctly?
Do they need drying out?

And someone at work told me the runner bean plants can be dug straight into the soil as they are good for the soil, is this correct?  Do I need to do anything else with them or just bury them?  Or should they go on the compost heap?
Some of our plants have a black thing on the leaves, (illness) would this be bad for the soil?  Or will it die once its buried?

All advice greatfully recieved!

Here's an all eventualities run down on runners!

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/members/seed_saving/ssg7_runner_beans.php

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shell out the seeds, leave to air dry before storing (use something like a paper envelope in case they are still "damp" and will still be able to dry off without going mouldy)

when I shop at Tesco I take a few mushroom bags,

But only with mushrooms in, which you pay for!

If you leave the runner bean plant-stubs in the ground and we have a mild winter, they'll start to grow again giving you a nice early start next year

Never seen this before - interesting..

I accidentally overwintered some runner beans about 10 years ago - at the time I'd only got one dalek compost bin so just piled up all my garden rubbish in a heap above where I had cut the runners down to the ground (grew them up a wigwam that year.)

Next spring I cleared up the mess and shortly after was amazed to find runner bean shoots (several per root) springing up in a neat circle! 

The pile of green stuff must have kept the frost off the tubers and allowed them to survive the winter - I still regret the fact I had to dig them up as I needed the space for something else, but the new growth certainly looked vigorous and plentiful.

These days I save seeds and dig up the whole lot and compost it to save possibly facing the same dilemma (and because they don't rot down quickly enough in the soil), although I don't think they would survive in the ground over winter in normal circumstances.

Quote from: Dopey113 on September 14, 2012, 15:35

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shell out the seeds, leave to air dry before storing (use something like a paper envelope in case they are still "damp" and will still be able to dry off without going mouldy)

when I shop at Tesco I take a few mushroom bags,

But only with mushrooms in, which you pay for!

lol, think I may go buy some mushrooms....

I was toying with the idea of saving some seed for next year, because I had a ridiculously big crop this year; my freezer is full of them, I've got jam jars full of them dried and I've given away loads. What bothers me a bit is according to that article at the link DD provided I have to pick out the best plants and best pods, and it's way too late for that. I've also picked all the good sized pods already. I've got plenty of small and immature pods left and it's still flowering, but I wouldn't have thought those pods are really going to have time now to get big and swell, because the weather is cooling down fast. Do you think there's still time for those pods to grow and swell enough for me to collect seeds, or is it too late?