RESIDENTS have been told their rubbish will not be collected unless they use the right colour bin bags.

People living in flats above shops Whalley Banks, Blackburn, have received letters warning them to use lilac, not black bags.

Blackburn with Darwen Council chiefs said the move was necessary to stop businesses in the area from abusing the system.

But one resident said the council was "talking silly."

The Whalley Banks resident, who did not want to be named, said: "Black bin bags have been established and universally recognised throughout the country as rubbish bags for many years, yet now Blackburn council has chosen to introduce lilac as the bin colour.

"What does it matter what colour a bag is so long as it contains residential waste and is put out for collection on the right days? Does the colour of a bag change what it contains?"

The resident claimed an "environmental health hazard" was being created by council chiefs refusing to collect black bags.

But council bosses have defended the move. Businesses are not entitled to have their rubbish collected - and Coun Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration, said giving residents special lilac bags allowed refuse collectors to tell which is which.

He said: "Residents living in the flats above the shops have to use the lilac sack system for their rubbish so that we know it is domestic waste. Otherwise, businesses could try and dispose of their trade waste illegally by mixing their back bin bags with rubbish put out by residents. This would mean that the rate payer would be paying for the businesses' rubbish to be removed, when they should pay for their own.

"That is why the council introduced the lilac bag system in the first place."