SERVICE centre staff were on call yesterday after a council introduced changes to its recycling and refuse services.

Workers braced themselves for an influx of calls after Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council began a four-day collection week.

To ease the transition, a brochure was sent to every home in the area detailing the changes in the collection system.

The borough is being divided into four zones under the new scheme with collections alternating each week between normal waste and waste which can be recycled.

Normal waste and plastic is collected on the first week, with green waste and other recyclables being collected the following week.

Green waste wheelie bins have been delivered to about 48,000 homes, while waste collection workers are moving onto a four-day week.

The council's director of area management, Simon Dale, said: "We were geared up for a higher than usual number of inquiries and we've got the staff in place, plus back-up support, to deal with that.

"It's all hands to the pumps - with no distinction between a refuse collector and me.

"We need to be fully aware of the impact of the changes and do all we can to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible."

Councillor Bob Stanway said: "We've certainly got some interesting times ahead - the start of probably the biggest changes to services the council has made for a number of years."