Hartlepool homes could see weekly bin collections return under new proposals

The Government wants to re-introduce weekly collections of food waste.

Household bins could return to weekly collections under new proposals from the Environment Secretary.

Councils in England will be obliged to provide weekly pick-ups of food waste and free bins for green waste collection, according to reports in a number of Sunday papers.

Authorities will get more money from the Government to pay for the increased frequency of collections, Michael Gove said.

He was quoted as saying: "For too long food waste has been left lingering in bins for weeks.

"We'll invest to smooth out differences between individual councils, and support comprehensive and frequent rubbish and recycling collections."

Many local authorities - including Hartlepool - have reduced the collection to fortnightly, with non-recycleable household waste (green bin) collected one week, and recycleable waste (grey bin) the next.

Garden waste (brown bin) is also every two weeks, between April and November.