RESIDENTS in Hyndburn are being urged to give the borough's new rubbish recycling campaign a chance to succeed after scores of complaints.

Householders protested when the borough council announced it would be switching from once-a-week rubbish collections to a fortnightly scheme in some areas last March, where residents are expected to separate plastics, bottles, paper, and cans.

Many are furious at being asked to take a hand in recycling, and are concerned about how they will cope with a fortnightly collection. But Coun Ann Scaife, portfolio holder for the environment, today appealed for people to give recycling a go.

She said: "What people find difficult is the alternate week collections because they have never done it. They voice opinions before doing it and then, in six weeks, it dies down."

The council admits that the scheme, which aims to recycle 25 per cent of the borough's waste, can only work if the public help out. But some groups have expressed concern. Alf Green, chairman of the Woodnook Forum, said: "If you look at a terraced house on the day the collection comes along, there's far more people don't use it then actually use it. So more could be done to encourage it."

Coun Tim O'Kane, of Clayton-le-Moors, said: "Nobody likes to be told they have got to do this and that. But it's important to recycle, and sometimes the only way is to just bite your lip and do it. If people can give it a chance it fetches more money into the borough as well with the recycling credits we get."

By 2005, the whole of Hyndburn will be using the new scheme of a wheely bin for 'normal' rubbish, a blue bag for plastic bottles, a blue box for glass, bottles and tins, and a white bag for paper. A green bin is also available for garden waste. Peel and Barnfield are next in line.