Weekly refuse collections to stay

Arun District Council leader Cllr Gill Brown said the local authority was determined to keep to the once a week regular visits to empty dustbins and collect black bags.

A national outcry has broken out about an increasing switch by councils to fortnightly collections to encourage recycling with the effect of cutting costs.

But the change has prompted complaints about rubbish being left in the streets to cause a possible health hazard and being responsible for a surge in the vermin population.

Cllr Mrs Brown, fresh from last week's election triumph, pledged this week Arun and its refusing contractor Verdant had no plans to change the current arrangements.

'The idea of fortnightly refuse collections was one of the main topics raised when I was going round to peoples' houses in the election campaign,' she said.

'We have no plans at all to scrap the weekly collection. I think a lot of councils who have gone over to fortnightly collections are moving back to weekly schedules again.'

The council's contract with Verdant lasts until 2012 with the option of a further extension of five years. The deal also includes recycling.

Cllr Mrs Brown said the past year had seen a growth in the amount of paper and other items being recycled. This had seen the total amount being saved from being dumped in a landfill rise to 34pc of the total amount of refuse being collected.

This was higher than the amount in Chichester with its fortnightly collections.

'People in the Arun area are doing really well with recycling,' stated Cllr Mrs Brown. 'This shows it can be done with weekly refuse collections.'

She stressed that the only way in which the council would drop its weekly collections would be an order from Whitehall to do so.

But the Conservative councils around the country were determined to stick together on this issue, she added.