Blair Likes His Rubbish Collection to be Weekly

Councils can increase recycling rates in "better ways" than moving to fortnightly rubbish collections, Tony Blair said today.

The Prime Minister, speaking on GMTV, said he remains a "traditionalist" when it comes to retaining the weekly bin round. His comments came as growing numbers of local authorities are switching to fortnightly collections in an attempt to encourage more re-cycling - despite intense opposition in some areas.

"It is for local councils to decide but in the end I am a traditionalist on this one, to be absolutely frank," Mr Blair said. "It think it is perfectly understandable why councils want to do it because of re-cycling and everything, but there may be better ways of doing it."

A Local Government Association (LGA) spokesman said: "The bin men still visit every house every week. But in around two out of five areas they now alternate what they pick up - one week recycling rubbish and the next general rubbish.

"Above all, councils must work with residents to decide what is the system that works best for their local area."