COUNCIL chiefs have pledged to get tough with residents who overfill their wheelie bins once a new recycling scheme starts next month. Refuse collection crews are to enforce existing policies by refusing to take bins which do not have a fully closed lid and by ignoring bagged "side rubbish".

Only one bin will be emptied per house except in special circumstances.

The aim is to force people to "rethink rubbish" by encouraging them to recycle more and more of their household waste.

The action will come into force across the district from September 8. At the same time some 9,000 households in various areas will start the much-heralded new kerbside recycling scheme, when boxes of recycling will be collected weekly and their wheelie bins emptied fortnightly.

Councillor Keith Robertson, Wyre Forest District Council's portfolio holder for commercial services, said the overall aim was to reduce the amount of rubbish ending up in landfill sites and encourage more recycling.

"If we continue collecting side waste and two bins from some properties there is no real incentive for people to recycle."

In the last fortnight some 42,000 households had special stickers attached to their bins, urging them to begin to "rethink rubbish".

It also asks them to fill in blank spaces with their house name or number and street, so the council can ensure only one bin is emptied per property.

Concerned readers have contacted the Shuttle/Times and News worried that the stickers also appear to leave a space for the name of the householder to be added, so providing information which could be used by distraction raiders targeting vulnerable folk.

But the council's marketing manager Simon Trickett said residents should not include their name. He said: "We accept it might appear ambiguous and would urge people not to fill in their name or to scribble out the name if they have already filled it in."

For information contact the council's customer services team on 01562 732928.