COUNCILLORS in Darlington took to the streets yesterday to find out residents' opinions of a recycling scheme.

Four members of the borough council's public protection scrutiny committee knocked on doors in Hammond Drive, Bourne Avenue, Waverley Terrace, Easson Road and Farrer Street, armed with questionnaires and spare recycling boxes.

They were finding out what people think of the authority's kerbside recycling scheme, which was introduced last September.

Committee chairman Councillor Doris Jones said: "The scheme is still very new, but we have had a tremendous response from the public, with more than 50 per cent of homes in the borough now using the kerbside recycling service.

"But we must encourage still more people to take up kerbside recycling, and our job is to find out what parts of the service work well, what problems there may be; and if people are not kerbside recycling we want to find out why."

A recent survey by Friends of the Earth named Darlington's fortnightly recycling scheme in its top ten doorstep collections in England.