WESTLANDS residents are being urged to go green and recycle more of their household waste. The plea is being made after it was revealed at a Westlands Forum meeting that the estate has the worst record for recycling in the district.

Mark Edwards, Wychavon District Council's waste management officer later confirmed 45 per cent of residents in Westlands recycle, compared to an average of 65 per cent across the rest of Wychavon. However, Mr Edwards said people should be encouraged and not perturbed to recycle.

"Almost half the people on the estate are making use of their purple and white recycling sacks and we need to encourage people to join in," he said. He added the purple sacks, which are used for paper, were more frequently used than the clear bags that are for cans.

But at a recent forum meeting, member Geoff Holyoake said a lot of people felt disillusioned by the current collection system. He claimed many people on the estate were putting their filled recycling sacks out but days later they had still not been collected. "What is the point of people recycling when you can't keep to the day of collection? You put them out and they are still there three days later," Mr Holyoake said to Ray Grundy, of the authority's community services department, who attended the meeting.

Mr Grundy said he would look into the comments made at the meeting. A special Westlands litter sub committee will also discuss the matter.