HYNDBURN'S great rubbish row has taken another twist after opposition councillors claimed nobody had told residents bin bag waste had been "banned".

Huncoat Labour ward councillor Dave Parkins said the first he knew about the council stopping the collection of waste left at the side of wheelie bins was when several residents rang him to complain.

Environment chiefs said the policy was changed when a plastics recycling scheme was introduced in December. But the policy has left the council out of line with neighbouring East Lancashire authorities.

The row comes after the council apologised for not informing people clearly about its Christmas collection schedule, prompting people to leave rubbish out on the street for days.

"The borough has never been in as much of a state as it is now," said Coun Parkins.

Deputy Labour leader Dave Myles said: "To refuse to take side waste is madness. They are saying it's a method of enforcement to get people to recycle, but they haven't told councillors. Councillors are the people residents complain to, and ask for advice. We can't give advice if we don't have the information ourselves."

Wheelie bins were introduced when bids of £875,000 were approved, including £275,000 from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. The council has already exceeded government recycling targets of 12 per cent of household rubbish by the end of the current financial year, and 18 per cent next year, with 20 per cent of the borough's rubbish recycled in the first six months of this financial year.

Ray Grimshaw, assistant director of direct services, said: "In the areas of the borough where the council has fully implemented the recycling collection service to 18,000 homes, there is currently a policy of no side waste collection. In the spring of this year the full recycling service will be rolled out to the remaining 40,000 homes thus implementing a no side waste policy throughout the borough."

Coun Ann Scaife, environment portfolio holder, said: "We are now recycling green waste, glass, cans, paper and plastics. Therefore, the only side waste is cardboard, which we are also looking to bring into the scheme in the next 12 months.

"Like any new scheme, it's going through the bedding in period, where we need to find and iron out any issues."

The council will be staging a series of roadshows to tell people about the plastics recycling scheme.

A Burnley Council spokesman said: "We do collect other rubbish left alongside wheelie bins although, in normal circumstances, the bins are generally large enough to contain the average household's weekly rubbish."

A spokesman for Ribble Valley Council said: "We do collect side waste, provided it is securely fastened in a bin liner and left at the normal refuse collection point."

A spokesman for Pendle Council said the authority still uses black plastic bags alongside recycling schemes, and has a wheeled bin system planned for later this year, or early next year.

Nobody from Blackburn with Darwen Council was available to comment.

A spokesman for Rossendale Council said: "We will take side waste at the present time, as long as it's not on a regular basis, but it's not something we will continue to do."