BROMSGROVE District Council is doing good things to improve recycling but is falling down in other areas including street cleaning.

This is the verdict of the Audit Commission which gives Bromsgrove District Council's waste management one star out of a possible three because the service is inconsistent.

The independent watchdog considers the overall service to be "fair" but describes prospects for improvement as "uncertain."

"We recognise the recent progress the council has made on recycling, where it has exceeded its statutory target. It is also moving in the right direction in some other areas of service," said Sandy McMillan, Audit Commission senior manager.

"However, at the time of our inspection, performance was not consistent as the focus has been more on recycling and less on other areas such as street cleaning and ensuring value for money."

The Audit Commission found a council that was working to improve its waste management but that this work had not yet resulted in improvements for local people. Inspectors considered street cleaning a particular weakness and found 34 per cent of the district had unacceptable levels of litter.

Councillor Brian Fuller (Con-Hillside), who is the cabinet member responsible for environmental health, welcomed the report, which he said indicated how to improve the service for people in the district.

"We have worked very hard concentrating on recycling and reducing the amount of household waste we collect with good results," said Cllr Fuller.

"When we had the last Audit Commission report the service was rated as poor with no prospect of improvement, so we have made considerable progress. However, we know that we have to do more and are going to do it."