By Joanne Kelly

COUNCILLORS in Melksham have voiced concerns about the changes to rubbish collections in west Wiltshire.

West Wiltshire District Council's head of commercial services Trevor Askew was at Melksham Town Council's meeting on Monday to talk about the new mobile recycling service.

He said: "We have to reduce landfill. Recycling and waste are the issues and we need to address them."

The new service, launched on October 1, replaced the community skip service.

Garden waste, textiles and metals are now collected once a fortnight in Melksham, Bradford on Avon, Westbury and Trowbridge.

The changes have sparked angry reactions and one district council worker was attacked while managing the new recycling skip in Bradford.

Cllr Sarah Cardy said she was worried people would dump waste illegally. She said: "More and more people will dump things on streets and in car parks because they cannot put items in specified skips."

The recycling skips are in the four towns from 9am-4pm and Cllr Cardy said this too could lead to dumping. "Some people will not be able to get to the skip during those hours and we will end up seeing more countryside dumping," she added.

Cllr Adrienne Westbrook said she had already spotted a three-piece suite dumped in Forest Road.

The next collection in Melksham is on October 30. The service will be in the King Street car park.

The £10 charge for household collection of furniture and larger items was also criticised. The charge covers up to four items.

Cllr Cardy said for pensioners or people on low incomes £10 for one item was unfair. She said: "£10 for four items might be a good deal, but if you only have one item £10 is expensive."

New recycling centres are being brought in next April in Bowerhill in Melksham and Trowbridge.

Only eight per cent of rubbish is recycled in west Wiltshire. Under government guidelines this target will be 16 per cent by 2003 and two years later a quarter of all rubbish must be recycled. The changes were made following an in-depth review of waste services as part of the Best Value process.