THE final stage of scheme to boost recycling by introducing wheelie bins will be rolled out later this month.

More than 5,000 houses in Northallerton and Romanby will take delivery of the green and black bins.

Householders are being invited to a series of roadshows across Northallerton next week to find out how the new scheme works.

The initiative has seen a huge rise in recycling levels. The latest figure shows a rate of 11,000 tonnes per year recycled, compared with 6,998 tonnes in the previous year.

However, the new system of alternate weekly collections for household and garden waste has also met with complaints, about the new bins being too small and people having to make extra journeys to tips.

Northallerton resident Suzanne Langford, who has three children, said she asked for a bigger bin, only to be told she could not have one without an inspection by Hambleton District Council. However, she said, a friend in Aiskew, who also has three children, had been give one straight away.

She said: "I appreciate the idea is to encourage people to recycle, but it seems like it is one rule for one person and another for everyone else.

"We recycle cans, paper, tins and bottles, but that bin is not going to be big enough."

Mike Kneebone, the council's operational services manager, said: "There is no difference between places. To get the bigger bins, people are expected to recycle.

"At some stage along the line, if they find that they are not managing, they give us a call and we carry out an inspection of the recycling."