RESIDENTS can now give their outgrown and unwanted clothes a new lease of life by putting them to good use and recycling them.

When clothing is put out with the normal refuse for weekly collection, it is taken to the landfill site at Pershore.

This adds a huge amount to the tons of rubbish thrown away each year.

Redditch Council now provides 12 recycling centres where clothing and household textiles can be recycled, with the latest places to benefit being Matchborough and Winyates.

Residents are asked to make sure clothing and textiles are clean and dry and placed in a plastic bag to keep them in good condition for reuse.

Alternatively, any decent quality items can be taken away to any one of the charity shops in the town centre.

The council's waste management officer Andrea Morris said: "Last year, Redditch people recycled nearly 60 tons of textiles but that is only about a third of all textiles that are being thrown away.

"I hope we'll double that amount this year."

For more details, call 64252 ext 3700.