I HAVE good news for Mrs Hinchly of Skerton who complained in the Citizen last week about the lack of wheely bins and recycling facilities in her area.

The council's budget for 2005/06 includes an extra £200,000 for extending the wheely bin and kerbside recycling scheme into Skerton, the Newton Estate and other areas. We do find that where we have done this the amount of litter decreases too.

This third phase means that more than half of the district will benefit from the three stream waste collection, and hopefully Mrs Hinchly will have to make fewer journeys to Salt Ayre. The costs of further phases are built into our budget projections for future years too, so we intend eventually to cover the whole district.

Cllr Ian Barker, Lancaster City council leader.