A COUNCIL is being urged to join forces with other Lancashire authorities to bid for £308 million and hand their waste management services over to the private sector.

Despite reservations of committing the area to the scheme for the next 30 years, members of Ribble Valley Borough Council's policy and finance committee have agreed to sign up to an outline business case (OBC) for Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding.

Lancashire County Council have said the forming of a single collection and disposal contract is the "only game in town" as far as the future of waste management in the county is concerned.

But members were concerned that the efficient service already offered by the council to district residents would be affected by a merger. And at a meeting of the council's Waste Management Group, members said they remained "unconvinced" by the arguments for an OBC, and advised the committee not to support the scheme.