It's been a year since the council introduced alternate weekly collections and a report prepared for the environmental scrutiny panel by Streetcare manager Peter Butler hails its introduction as a great success and a major revenue earning opportunity for the council.

"For too long people have thought of refuse collection as a council service. We plan to change all that. If people leave their bins out in the street because their gardens are too small we're going to fine them. And if residents don't monitor their bins 24 hours a day to prevent passers-by contaminating their recycling we can hit them hard as well."

Calls for kerbside recycling of glass and food has been rejected by the report as it is not covered by the 25 year PFI deal signed with Bracknell and Wokingham councils. "If people have bottles they simply have to drive them to the nearest bottle bank. We don't care how many extra journeys this puts on Reading's roads... because it all contributes towards the argument for introducing congestion charges. And if the people of Redlands want bottle banks, well, we're not going to give them any until they stop electing Liberal councillors because they are a bloody pain in the neck with their constant whining to me about recycling facilities. And as for food waste, that's not our problem? People should just liquidise it and flush it down the toilet, just the same as if they'd eaten it, but without that messy digestion bit to slow things down."