OVERFLOWING wheelie bins, flies - and a regular trip to the municipal depot.

That's what thousands of York residents have to look forward to when weekly rubbish collections are consigned to the dustbin, according to people in a neighbouring area where similar changes have come in. Residents in Pickering are so fed up with alternate standard and "green" waste collections every fortnight that hundreds have signed a petition calling for a return to the old system.

In York, protesters have set up a new website for people to voice concerns. But city environment chief Andrew Waller said the alternative could be an extra £100 on council tax bills.

It won't happen here, says York council

CITY OF YORK council bosses today dismissed fears of overflowing wheelie bins when weekly collections of household refuse are scrapped in the city.

They said they anticipated households which reduced the amount of waste produced, and separated waste for recycling and composting, would have ample room to store all their rubbish until collection day.

"If all paper, glass and cans are put in the kerbside box and bag, households should only need the two standard-sized bins," said a spokeswoman.

She stressed that the council would not collect any excess rubbish.

She said the measures would save millions of pounds a year in fines, which would be imposed if York failed to meet landfill targets set by the Government and would result in higher council taxes.

She claimed that more than 100 councils across the country had already introduced the system coming to York, and these had proved "very successful" in reducing amounts of rubbish.

"While it is inevitable that there will be teething problems until people get used to a new scheme of any kind, the council will provide help and support to anyone experiencing difficulties. Anyone who is finding it difficult to fit their rubbish into their grey bin or has questions about the scheme should call the York Pride Action Line on 01904 551551."

Plague of flies

OVERFLOWING wheelie bins, flies... and a regular trip to the municipal waste depot.

That is what York residents can look forward to when weekly collections are scrapped - according to critics of such changes in a neighbouring area where they have already been introduced.

Townspeople in Pickering are so fed up with fortnightly collections that hundreds have signed a petition calling for the restoration of the weekly service.

They claim that swarms of flies which have plagued the town since early summer have been caused by bins unable to cope with two weeks-worth of rubbish and overflowing on to the ground - although these claims have been strenuously denied by Ryedale District Council bosses, who blame an agricultural unit.

Petition organiser Christina Vance, owner of the Pickering Antique Centre, claimed flies had become a real problem, especially earlier in the summer, because refuse was only being collected fortnightly.

"Flies multiply at an enormous rate," she said. "It takes roughly two weeks from hatching to laying eggs and a breeding ground is rotting garbage."

The changes, as with the introduction of fortnightly collections in York, are intended to encourage recycling, with garden waste being collected every other week instead of ordinary household rubbish.

Christina said she believed most residents in Pickering backed recycling. "But we are not prepared to put ourselves and our children at risk from disease."

Another resident, Josephine Gascoyne, said the fortnightly collections were causing families real problems. She claimed that if excess bags of refuse had been left in wheelie bins, leaving the lids sticking up, collectors had been taking them out and leaving them on the ground.

Some people were having to take their excess rubbish to the municipal waste depot at Thornton-le-Dale.

But a council spokesman, defending the introduction of the changes, said assistance could be given to people struggling to cope.

Simple measures could often assist, for example by flattening boxes and plastic bottles before putting them in the bins.

He also said that the council had had to introduce the changes to reduce rubbish amounts, or otherwise face huge Government fines which would end up hitting council taxpayers.

The authority also insisted that the alternate week collection had been operating in parts of Malton and Norton since March, 2003, without any such problems.

Pickering district councillor Linda Cowling said she believed residents would get used to the changes. "It will settle down," she said.

Updated: 11:51 Monday, August 29, 2005