AN outcry over a decision to axe door-to-door rent collection in Richmondshire has prompted the district council's housing chiefs to promise a meeting with tenants who have objected.

More than 30 people signed a petition circulated in Catterick Village, urging the authority to think again.

At a meeting on Tuesday, the council's housing committee supported a discussion with some of the people affected.

Ward councillor Tony Pelton said he was satisfied with a move towards a compromise - although he accepts the talks do not necessarily mean the collections will continue.

He said: "However, the tenants are the council's customers. It is their rent which helps to pay for services the authority provides, so I don't think it is a good idea to create problems unnecessarily.

"We have yet to see what comes from the talks, but it should be stressed that door-to-door collections give council officers an opportunity to see and hear what is going on, and personal contact is something we should be careful not to lose."

The authority wants to phase out the collection service over the next three years and wrote to tenants in July, informing them of the decision and of the other methods of payment available.

The move follows a Best Value report, which concluded the rent collection service was a good one but expensive to operate, with costs likely to rise as the number of council tenants using the service declined.