No extra waste bin or fines for households - council

Households in Leeds will not receive a fourth household waste bin, the city council has confirmed.

The local authority said "rumours" that homes would be given an extra bin and fines would be introduced for people who put items in the wrong bin were not correct.

National changes to waste collections will require councils to collect glass, metals, paper, card and plastic from kerbsides.

But a council spokesperson said its current approach was "successful" and that no extra bins for homes were necessary.

However, a new food waste collection trial would be rolled out in Wetherby and Collingham at the end of February, the spokesperson explained.

Households involved in that trial would be contacted shortly with more details and would receive a new kitchen food waste caddy to support the new fortnightly service which was set to start by the end of February, they added.

Should it prove successful, it was likely to be extended to other parts of Leeds.

The council said if future food waste collections became permanent, it had the flexibility to extend its garden waste brown bin service, which would avoid the need for a fourth bin.

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, executive member for environment, said: "We are aware of information and rumours circulating regarding an additional fourth bin and new fines possibly being introduced. We would like to stress neither of these elements are true for Leeds.

"We remain fully committed to keeping to the current three-bin approach to keep things as simple as possible for our residents while continuing to encourage recycling through green bins and the household waste recycling centres."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.