ENVIRONMENTALLY-friendly residents have responded so well to the city's new recycling scheme that collection teams have been completely overwhelmed.

Worcester City Council has had to draft in two extra lorries to help deal with the thousands of sacks being put out in the first week of the initiative.

In Dines Green, more than 80 per cent of households took part.

On Tuesday, the first day of the scheme, staff picked up 4,500 bags crammed with more than 20 tons of paper and 2.6 tons of plastic from around 4,400 homes.

Recycling teams, in three large lorries and one smaller vehicle, worked from 7am to 7pm in an attempt to complete the round.

All but a few of the streets due to have their bags collected on Tuesday were covered.

Those that missed out had their bags collected first thing on Wednesday morning and the council is bringing in two extra lorries for the next two weeks to cope with the demand.

Councillor Derek Prodger, cabinet member for community services, was out on the streets in Ronkswood to see the scheme in action and described the response as "staggering".

"It's been a tremendous result, and all thanks to the people who contributed to it," he said.

Operations manager Dilwyn Price said they had not anticipated such a fantastic response to the scheme.

"Many people have been saving up their recyclables and putting them out in one go, which meant the lorries filled up more quickly than expected and had to make double the trips to the recycling plant at Hill and Moor to unload," he said.

"Despite that, we are delighted with the first day's success and want to say a big thank you to residents for their co-operation," Mr Price added.

The council has asked householders to limit themselves to one clear and one purple sack per fortnight.

They also asked people to crush plastic bottles and cans where possible, removing non-recyclable lids from bottles, rinse out all cans and plastics.

Anyone who has run out of sacks already can obtain more by calling the council's recycling hotline on 01905 722465.