A FORMER Mayor of Worcester says people in the Third World would think it “mad” the city was ever considering food waste collections – lambasting the idea as “potty”.

Councillor David Tibbutt also says supermarkets are to blame for pushing a waste culture and insists too many city shoppers are tempted by two-for-one offers.

The veteran Conservative, a former Uganda Ministry of Health adviser, says people in poorer countries would think Worcester residents are “bonkers” for wasting so much food.

It comes after Worcester City Council dropped the idea last Wednesday amid fears it can’t afford the £1 million launch costs.

Coun Tibbutt said: “To me this is a complete no-brainer – and just because more than 50 per cent of other councils offer food waste collections, doesn’t mean we should.

“We should not be wasting food in the first place. We have food banks, for heaven’s sake, so why do we need to be throwing anything away?

“I find it absolutely astonishing – if you go and talk to people in the Third World, and tell them ‘we’re thinking of starting food waste collections’, they would think we are mad – it’s potty.

“I suspect a lot of this is because people go into supermarkets and get a lot of two-for-one items.

“You get it chucked at you everywhere you go, people buy too much. We certainly do not need this.”

The city council scrapped the idea after an in-house panel found it would cost £973,000 to launch and about £544,000 every year in recurring costs like staffing and fuel.

But it was fiercely opposed by Councillor Neil Laurenson, the city’s lone Green politician, who has called it a “missed opportunity”.

He believes the costs could be made lower, and that it would help the environment, partly by reducing expensive landfill taxes.

Last month, Worcester was revealed as one of Britain’s worst cities for waste, with only four other areas more prone to throwing out unwanted food.

The average household in the city throws away £672.36 worth of food every year, the fifth highest in the country and second highest in the West Midlands. 

Do you think Coun Tibbutt is right? E-mail te@worcesternews.co.uk or call 01905 742248.