Call for details on how waste policy to be implemented

The Evening News revealed yesterday that residents who put out too much rubbish are to be handed £50 fines in a bid to encourage more recycling.

Bins will first be tagged with warning notes, then bin men will refuse to empty overflowing bins or pick up surplus bin bags,  environmental wardens will visit the homes concerned and official warnings will be sent before a fixed penalty is issued.

But Tory environment spokeswoman Joanna Mowat said: “Given all the problems with introducing the fortnightly collections, we have huge concerns over whether we can make this work.”

She said she had visited London to see how a similar scheme operated, using sophisticated technology to record any rubbish problems house-by-house.

She said: “I’ve not heard of any new technology being put in the cabs. The last I knew we were relying on scraps of paper.”

Environment convener Lesley Hinds said the council was looking at new technology but there was no need to delay the crackdown because the same policy was followed before the move to fortnightly collections.