THE bulk refuse collection in Evesham, Pershore and Broadway has been suspended.

Wychavon District Council has put the twice-yearly service on hold after safety fears were raised.

Client services manager Sharon Casswell said: "There are various health and safety issues, which is why we have called this review, including hazardous waste being deposited, piles of waste blocking footpaths and the fire brigade has been called out on several occasions to put out fires started in piles of waste."

Concerns were raised at Tuesday night's meeting of Wychavon District Council as members said they did not know about the decision, which had been taken by the council's executive board.

Council leader councillor Malcolm Meikle apologised for the delay in informing members, but councillor Jim Griffiths said: "We are still left with the situation that people's garages and sheds are filling up with bulky waste that they are expecting to put out for disposal."

Coun Meikle said full consultation would be carried out with town and parish councils, adding: "We are trying to ascertain the views of local representatives on how to overcome the very real health and safety problems which have arisen because of the abuse of the present arrangements."

He said similar abuses had also meant fewer parishes asking for skips than in past years. "It appears that where a parish can site a skip in a friendly farmer's field or a private location they value it, but where it is put on the public highway it is becoming increasingly hazardous."

The council has also run into problems with its stated policy of extending its door-to-door recycling scheme to 96 per cent of households.

It now says that because of difficulties in negotiations between the county council and its own contractors the extra recycling is unlikely to take in more than 50 per cent of Wychavon homes when it is introduced.