BURY is doing the Italian job to bring home cash for a cleaner borough.

Town hall bosses are playing a leading part in moves to improve the environment across Europe.

And the borough could ultimately be given £200,000 to test out a new underground commercial waste system.

Mr Dennis Taylor, council chief executive, flew to Milan yesterday for a three-day meeting with representatives of the European Commission - which is paying for the trip - the Italian environment ministry and the University of Brescia.

Bury is one of four UK councils to take part in the first study and will be working with counterparts from the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.

Mr Taylor has had 30 years' experience working in environmental health and waste management. He said: "Once the concept has been researched and developed, significant funding for pilot projects will be provided by the European Commission with Bury standing to gain £200,000."

The MOSER Project will look at underground commercial waste handling facilities which businesses can use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by using a smart card.

Waste will then be transferred to underground containers with authorities using computer information to bill users.

Other aspects of the programme include driver-only refuse collections, again aimed at congested town centres and commercial areas.

Mr Taylor said: "Bury has long had an extremely high profile in the waste industry having provided four national presidents. Two of whom, myself and my predecessor Brian Carter, have also been privileged to sit on European and world representative bodies.

"Many of the major engineering equipment and vehicles used in the industry today have been pilot-tested in Bury. We have always co-operated at the leading edge of environmental technology development."

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