CASH-STRAPPED council bosses in Worcester are going to dump Saturday skips from April, sparking fears it could increase flytipping.

Worcester City Council says the skips which are placed around eight different locations every month are being removed to save £15,000.

For over 20 years the skips have appeared in locations like Shap Drive, Warndon, Liverpool Road, Ronkswood, and Waverley Street in Diglis for residents to dump rubbish.

As part of plans to save £974,000 from April council chiefs say they will vanish.

The move has been criticised by politicians, who fear it will encourage people to dump waste instead.

Councillor Jo Hodges said: "We're not talking about the reduction of a service here, it's a total cessation of one.

"The council is basically saying it will stop the service completely and the skips will go.

"I wonder if this really is a wise thing to do, especially if there is an increased cost to the council in terms of flytipping."

The council's leadership say no other local authority in either Worcestershire or Herefordshire still provides a skip service.

They also say since the launch of recycling collections many items that used to be chucked into skips can now be re-used, and that Bilford Road tip is a good alternative for rubbish that can't be placed in the black bins.

At the moment everything placed in the skips goes to landfill, which means the county council will also make a saving of its own.

The overall saving for taxpayers, factoring in both councils is believed to be well over £30,000 a year.

Councillor Matthew Lamb, cabinet member for cleaner and greener, said: "I know there is disquiet on this issue, but there are many alternatives now for people who want to get rid of bulky waste.

"We've looked at the possible consequences but don't think we should not remove something because of a worry people will dump rubbish, what kind of a message does that send out?"

The skips appear at each location once a month, taking in eight parts of the city by visiting two of them each Saturday.

They do not accept hazardous waste or so-called white goods like TVs or fridges.

The cut is part of the budget for 2014/15, which will be voted on by the city council next month.