RESIDENTS in Rubery have been urged to be patient and carry on recycling their rubbish despite last week's glitch which left many householders fuming.

As had happened elsewhere in the district, when the new refuse and recycling scheme has come on stream, many householders did not have their two boxes emptied on the specified day.

Speaking last Thursday, district councillor Brian Fuller (Con-Hillside) cabinet member responsible for environmental issues, said the problem was due to an "overload" on the system on the new round five.

However, he was quick to reassure residents the problems would be rectified within three weeks or so.

"Our experience is that when we first start a new round we get greater amounts of recyclable materials being put out for collection, because people either save it up or clear out garages or attics," he said.

"This puts a greater initial strain on the system, which takes about three weeks to work through. More recyclables means more trips to the depot, which can take from 30 minutes to an hour."

The situation is however much improved this time, he added, thanks to two of the four second hand kerbside recycling vehicles the council recently purchased, being brought into use.

These have a greater carrying capacity and are more convenient than those purchased as part of the original fleet.

On a more positive note, Cllr Fuller said a quarter of all collected household waste is now being recycled and he hoped that figure would jump to half when the system is fully implemented in April. Labour group leader Cllr Peter McDonald (Waseley) said he had been "inundated" with calls from angry Rubery residents and criticised the council claiming it had not learned anything from the past.