THE leader of Swindon council has ruled out the prospect of making bin and recycling collections less frequent.

Opposition councillors said they feared collections would happen every three or four weeks after the Conservative cabinet agreed to extend its food waste collection service borough-wide.

That will add another £1.4m to the cost of waste services, and consultants Methods have been employed to look at options of saving money.

Council leader David Renard said: “We can confirm and guarantee that the cabinet will not be recommending three-or-four-weekly collections under any circumstances.

"This has never been part of our plan.

“It is a shame that once again opposition councillors have deliberately decided to engage in scare-mongering of residents to create some publicity for party political purposes.

“As a Conservative administration we are here to do our very best for the people of Swindon and call upon all councillors to engage in responsible debate.”