ROADSHOW-style events aimed at encouraging people to recycle in Worcester are being dumped due to a cash shortage.

A yearly marketing budget worth £70,000 towards promoting recycling has been withdrawn by Worcestershire County Council, meaning the city is scaling back its ambitions on giving people advice.

In recent years the city council has spent cash on initiatives like advice sessions in supermarkets, printed material and website information on why recycling is worthwhile.

The cut is just one of several emerging from the city council's cleaner and greener department, including:

- All city council staged events are "under review" to focus on ones that "really add value to the city"

- A nature reserve maintenance post is being scrapped

- Out of the seven street sweeping vehicles in the city up to two could be removed

- A yearly contract with the probation service for convicted criminals to maintain roundabouts will be re-negotiated

The changes follow previous plans, which are coming into force in April, to increase garden waste collections by £10 to £37 a year, and whack up adult cremations from £610 to £700.

The removal of the recycling spending comes at a time when Worcester's percentage of household waste re-used is at 37 cent.

Although that is one of the better rates across the country, it has reached a plateau.

Councillor Paul Denham, speaking during a meeting of the performance, management and budget scrutiny panel, said: "Bearing in mind the Government has set local authorities a target of recycling 50 per cent of waste by 2020, I wonder what impact reducing our engagement with the public will have.

"We seem to have plateaued and I can't see how we will achieve a higher rate if we reduce our expenditure."

David Sutton, head of the cleaner and greener department, said the council will have to "work smarter" due to budget cuts.

"The kerbside recycling service we have is recognised as the optimum one to have, it's nice and simple and easy to understand," he said.

"The system is widely accepted across Worcester."

He said the council would still promote recycling on its website and use resources like the City Life magazine to publicise it, even without the grant from County Hall.