THE controversial decision to introduce wheelie bins into Malvern is under attack from all sides ahead of a crunch meeting next week.

Malvern Hills District Council has spent up to £1.2million of a government grant purchasing wheelie bins and making adjustments to its fleet of lorries.

However the scheme is now coming under pressure and one member of the council has suggested the project could be aborted and the council forced to sell its new stock of plastic bins.

The switch to plastic bins seemed a done deal when the district council announced it would replace the existing cherry-coloured recycling sacks from May.

But Coun Anthony Warbur-ton, a member of the controlling Tory group, believes the project has been led by unelected officers.

Tomorrow, he will table a motion to full council demanding councillors are given the full facts and a chance to decide on the scheme for themselves.

Pressure is also coming from Malvern Town Council, which this week passed a motion urging the district council to hold off and give wheelie bins more discussion. Members are also requesting district council officers attend Malvern’s annual town meeting on March 19 to “explain in full their decision”.

Coun Clive Smith, who sits on both councils, backed the motion and said: “If we (the district council) decide not to go ahead with it then we would have to rip off our logos and sell the bins to some poor council foolish enough to go ahead with it.”

Meanwhile Malvern’s MP Harriett Baldwin has written to district council leader David Hughes on behalf of town councillor Mike Charles, who says he has been “inundated” with complaints from residents about wheelie bins.