HOUSEHOLDS throughout the Cotswolds were due to start receiving new wheelie bins this week as the district council prepares for the full-scale launch of its new refuse collection service.

The service, which has already been rolled out in Birdlip, Cowley and Coberley, is due to start throughout the whole district on Monday, April 21. From that date, residents will only have their non-recyclable household waste collected fortnightly.

The current free fortnightly green waste service will also be replaced by a weekly collection of green waste, which can include compostable food waste, for those households that have paid the £30 annual collection fee.

The delivery of wheeled bins or beige refuse bags and re-useable cardboard sacks for the new service, along with information packs and collection calendars, was due to begin on Monday.

Information roadshows are being held across the district and the council's website includes answers to dozens of frequently asked questions about the new service.

"These are major changes to the way we collect household waste, so we are trying to make information and advice as widely available as possible," said waste manager Scott Williams.

The new service includes: n A weekly collection of food waste for composting n An optional charged-for weekly collection of garden waste n A new fortnightly collection of card and cardboard n The continuation of the current fortnightly collection of paper, glass, cans/tins and empty aerosol cans n The collection of non-recyclable waste fortnightly in grey wheeled bins or in council-supplied beige bin bags.

Anyone who has not yet indicated that they want to pay for the garden waste service can still do so by visiting www. cotswold.gov.uk/go/wastesurvey or by calling the council's waste hotline on 01285 623123.

Residents who have paid for the use of a green garden waste wheelie bin should receive their garden waste bin licence by early April.