'Chuting' party claims success

AN event to try to encourage tower block residents to recycle more – in a bid to stop them blocking up old rubbish chutes – has been hailed a success.

The Edinburgh Tenants Federation laid on the action day at the Calder flats in Wester Hailes at which 139 residents were given information on how to improve waste disposal. Organisers were pleased with the response.

The Evening News revealed earlier this year how tens of thousands of pounds were spent every year clearing blocked chutes from high flats around the city.

The narrow chutes, installed in the city's 50 high-rise flats when they were built, have been jammed with ovens, TV sets, pizza boxes and even Christmas trees.

Blocked chutes pose a safety risk to residents, and the city's housing leader, Councillor Paul Edie, said: "They are not just an expensive problem to sort out and clean, they also pose a fire risk."