Recycling figures up

Householders in Worthing are now recycling 15 per cent of their rubbish '” a figure "significantly higher" than before the changes '” putting the town on course to meet its 24 per cent target for March 2004.

Councillor Bob Smytherman hailed the increase as "fantastic news" and said things were "working well".

"There is always going to be the odd comments but I think, on the whole, Worthing is a very clean town," he said.

But the rubbish row goes on and the conservatives were not quick to agree.

Speaking at a meeting of leading councillors on Monday night, Tory councillor Major Tom Wye said: "Everyone applauds the increase in recycling but a lot of the people I have spoken to do not seem to share your (councillor Smytherman's) enthusiasm and don't call it an improved system.

"People I have spoken to don't like carrying their black plastic bags of rubbish through their houses to put them at the front.There is still a lot wrong."

Under the new scheme, people have to put their rubbish at the front of their houses by 6.30am for collection instead of the back.

Thousands of people phoned the council within the first few days of the new collections going live but leading lib dems said only a very small percentage of those calls were complaints.

Council workers are expected to have finished delivering more than 2,000 extra grey recycling boxes to homes by the end of week.

Peter Kempsell, head of contract services, said council workers were still seeing people who had requested to be exempt from the scheme but progress was slow.