THEY'VE bin a long time coming but the wheelies have finally arrived in Worcester.

Six city councillors, representing all the political parties, are the first ones to test-drive the new giant green refuse receptacles.

Alex Kear, Paul Denham, Sam Arnold, Lucy Hodgson, David Clarke and Margaret Leyland are the guinea pigs for a six-week trial to discover all the benefits and any pitfalls of using a wheelie bin.

The waste containers are being introduced to city households over three years, starting from the end of this month.

John Bond, the city council's environmental protection officer, said the scheme was a result of European Union landfill directive which aims to reduce the amount of waste put in landfill sites.

"We are trying to encourage people to do more recycling. Every household will have a large bin for recycling and a small bin for other waste."

He said some households, where the bins were unsuitable and impractical, would be kept on the bag scheme.

For more information about the scheme, call the wheeled bin hotline on 01905 722448 or 722514, or visit www.cityofworces ter.gov.uk

Meanwhile, people in Malvern have been reassured that they will continue to receive their recycling and refuse collection service as usual, following some confusion that they would all receive wheelie bins soon.

Malvern Hills District Council has had several calls from worried householders, after making a commitment to move towards a common collection system across both counties.

Head of environmental services Ivor Pumfrey said the bins wouldn't necessarily be wheelie bins.

"These are future plans - and when Malvern Hills District Council does consider this move, it will be after extensive consultation."

with our cus-tomers and it will be unlikely to happen before 2010."

There have been some objections to the introduction of wheelie bins in Malvern from peo-ple who think they are ugly, too large and encourage people to fill them up instead of recy-cling their rubbish.