JUST one in four Worcester people have suggested they want their bins collected by a private company - leading to fresh calls to keep it in-house.

Worcester City Council's Labour group claim the feedback is "evidence" householders do not want the current controversial outsourcing project to go ahead - but that stance has been rubbished by the Conservatives, who have pointed to it being 15 months old.

The response came from a regular poll, known as the Viewpoint Survey, which is only done twice a year and gets mailed to 1,846 homes.

During the mailshot of May/June last year, just 25 per cent said their preferred provider would be a private firm, with the rest backing the status quo or a not-for-profit body.

In recent weeks Worcester's two main political parties have been at loggerheads over a move to try and outsource refuse pick-ups, street sweeping and parks maintenance to the private sector from September 2017.

Labour says the feedback shows people do not want the change.

Councillor Lynn Denham, the Labour Party's spokesperson for commissioning and external services, said: "There is clear evidence that people prefer these services to be ran by the city council or a not-for-profit organisation - just 25 of them chose the private sector.

"But despite this the Conservatives refuse to countenance any kind of in-house bid or in-house shared service."

But the Conservative leadership say the feedback is dated, and believe the response rate, which was 29 per cent, was a fairly low sample - especially as it gets mailed out across the county.

Councillor Lucy Hodgson, who sits in the cabinet, said: "It was a one-off survey that took the views of the public at that snap-shot in time.

"Things change, situations change and if it was tried again, I think we'd get a different answer - the survey responses are very much about how people feel at the time.

"We were also elected on a mandate, of us saying 'this is one of the things we would do'.

"I think if people get the same service, collected on time with no mess left behind they'd be reasonably satisfied."

The Tory leadership is trying to strike a deal with councils in Malvern and Wychavon to save money - with an initial consultants' report suggesting the combined annual saving could be £1.6 million.

It would implicate around 111 Worcester City Council jobs, with most roles expected to transfer over - although cuts to posts cannot be ruled out.

The three authorities want to produce a shortlist of possible providers by May next year.