BIG BROTHER will soon be watching people's rubbish -- with bins in Hyndburn fitted with electronic chips to monitor what people are doing with their waste.

And anyone not taking part in the drive to increase recycling can expect a visit from a council officer to find out why.

Coun Tim O'Kane, whose portfolio covers environment and cleansing, said the smart bins would help the council keep a record of what was happening to waste in the borough.

Currently, Hyndburn recycles only six per cent of its waste, but the council is under pressure to reach government targets of 12 per cent by the end of next year.

A successful £275,000 bid to the Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund will see 6,000 homes in Hyndburn's four most deprived wards -- Church, Central, Spring Hill and Barnfield -- get wheelie bins. A further £600,000 was granted from DEFRA to provide kerbside boxes throughout the borough for recycling and a third amount, £90,000, will be used to provide wheeled bins for garden waste.

The 30 mm diameter chips -- about the size of a 10 pence piece -- will be moulded into the plastic bins and boxes, and will add £1.07 to their cost.

Inside the disc is a microchip that can be used to store information. A scanner on the bin wagon will read the information on the chip, including the name and address of the owner and the weight of the bin, giving a record of who is recycling.

Coun John Griffiths, the Conservative member for Baxenden ward, said: "It's Big Brother, a spy on the people."

Coun O'Kane said the chips would not be used to spy on people, but offered advantages, including identifying people's bins in case of loss or theft.

"The data will help us improve the recycling rates. People are going to be encouraged to recycle.

"We will work out a way of not infringing on people's rights. It's purely to encourage recycling, we won't be fining anybody. It's just a way of monitoring it."

A spokesman for Bradford-based PM Onboard, one of four companies manufacturing the chips, said the technology had been around for some time and was popular among private companies. Other councils had already implemented the system, he said.

But Hyndburn could be the first council to use the system on kerbside boxes if it is given the go-ahead. Officers are currently in talks with manufacturers to see whether it is feasible to put the chips on the boxes.

David Allenby, the council's assistant works manager, said the DEFRA bid had included funding for a waste minimisation officer whose duties will include visiting people who are not participating in the recycling scheme to find out why.

"We can put the information into a database and generate letters to people asking them why they are not participating, or send letters of congratulations.