HOUSEHOLDERS who recycle their waste have made a big difference to a children's charity.

For every tonne of waste collected from the kerbside boxes in Durham City, Chester-le-Street, Easington and Sedgefield, operators Premier Waste Management donates £1 to a charity fund.

Over the past two years, the scheme has raised £60,000 for charity and in the latest cheque presentation, £4,000 was handed over to Barbara Cranston, fundraiser for the NSPCC in the North-East.

She said: "Donations like this are vital for the work we do, so I would encourage everyone in the region to recycle on a regular basis.

"It's a fantastic scheme which means we can reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill sites while, at the same time, helping local charities."

The money will be used to fund NSPCC projects in the region, such as Kaleidoscope, which works with children and families.

Durham county councillor Brian Myers, cabinet member for waste management and waste minimisation, said: "Durham people have really taken recycling on board and thanks to residents using the scheme, household recycling is growing faster in the North-East than in most other regions of the UK.

"It's great to know their efforts are also benefiting the NSPCC."

Gary Whitehead, director of recycling at Premier Waste Management, said: "We still need to try harder to catch up to countries like Sweden, where householders recycle over 80 per cent of their wastebins.

"Now we can help local charities as well as save the planet there is no good reason for not using your Kerb-it recycling box."