COUNCIL auditors have criticised the performance of waste management and recycling services in Darlington.

Inspectors gave Darlington Borough Council an overall rating of "excellent" in their annual report, with top scores in a range of key areas including the economy and education.

The authority was given a four-star score - among the top 42 per cent in the country - and ranked in the top 24 per cent in terms of overall improvement.

But the authority's environmental efforts have been singled out for criticism.

Auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers said rubbish collection and recycling services were below standard compared to the rest of the UK.

The report states: "Waste management performance continues to be relatively poor, even though it is improving.

"A new waste disposal contract offers the prospect of significant improvement from April 2009. In the meantime recycling and composting rates went up but not as fast as in other councils."

Council leaders hope that the new recycling plant run by the John Wade Group, which opened this month, will address the problem, and increase recycling rates in the town from 22 per cent of household waste to 50 per cent.

Coun Nick Wallis, the cabinet member for the environment, said: "In general terms, we knew that our recycling rate was average for the North-East, but nowhere near what we were aspiring to.

"That's the reason why we started looking for big improvements, and we now have the tie-up with The John Wades Group.

"This facility is going to transform recycling and composting in Darlington.

"Wade's has also taken on the civic amenity site and there has been a step-change improvement to services offered to residents."

The new recycling plant, next to the A1 at Aycliffe village, will process all of Darlington's household waste for the next 11 years. The site uses mechanical biological treatment to speed up waste decomposition, and automatically separates recyclable glass and plastics from the rest of the rubbish.

Coun Wallis added: "The site is up and running now, and we have already had lots of praise for it from members of the public.

"We were aware there was a problem in the past. The auditors are right, but we have addressed it and there will be a significant improvement."