ALMOST £400,000 will be spent over the next three years to give every Hyndburn home a new wheelie bin.

The money coming from Hyndburn Council's waste collection budget will provide for 24,000 new refuse bins costing £16.50 each that will be emptied on alternate weeks.

Currently 12,000 of Hyndburn's 36,000 homes have the new bins, introduced in March and July using £861,000 of government money.

The new move, approved by the Conservative ruling group, will extend the collection service that the previous Labour administration introduced.

The extension of the service will also accompany other plans to collect green waste from a further 6,000 homes with gardens, which will be emptied on alternate weeks to the refuse bins, and collect cardboard and plastic. This will be funded with nearly £1million of government money.

The news sparked a furore among opposition Labour councillors who accused the Tories of reneging on election promises to abolish the scheme and reintroduce weekly collections.

Hyndburn Council had looked at reinstating weekly collections as well as the green waste collections but the extra rounds were rejected because they were too expensive. Money for the approved option will come from the council's capital programme.

The council estimates that it will earn £50,000 a year from recycled materials.

The opposition also accused the Conservatives of taking praise for recycling approximately 20 per cent of household waste, up from six per cent in six months, therefore exceeding the government set target of 18 per cent for 2005/06.

Deputy leader of Hyndburn's Labour group Coun David Myles said: "In the run-up to the election, the Tories put down our bi-weekly wheelie bin and recycling programme at every opportunity.

"They said such things as, 'The rubbish will be piling up in our streets' and 'The rubbish will stink after two weeks inviting vermin and disease'."

Leader of Hyndburn Council Coun Peter Britcliffe said: "I said previously that the scheme was ill-thought-out and rushed through and I still think it.

"But we have to continue with it to make sure we recycle more."