A COUNCILLOR has apologised for the chaos caused when the new £1.2million refuse system started in Droitwich last Monday.

Residents were unsure where to leave their rubbish, whether they had the right bags to take away the garden rubbish or where the actual rubbish went.

Deputy Leader of Wychavon District Council, Pam Davey (Con-Droitwich South), said: "We apologise for the lack of communication.

"That was the cause of most of the problems - no communication. We have made a damn mess up of it. No excuses just a straight forward apology."

In the new system bags of waste are collected from the edge of most people's properties and are then put directly into the refuse collection vehicle rather than grouped in piles.

And in an effort to encourage residents to compost their green waste, the free collection of garden rubbish has stopped.

But Cllr Davey admitted that this was fine for people who had a big garden but those who did not would find it practically impossible.

A glass collection service will be starting in autumn as part of the bid to up recycling levels to 21 per cent.

However Councillor Davey said that it was a cross-party group who had overseen the changes and not just the Tories who had given the scheme the green light.