CALLS to scrap recycling bags and replace them with bins are to be discussed by councillors in Burnley.

Residents petitioned Burnley Council to introduce bins instead of the current system, which sees people forced to use white sacks for paper and cardboard and blue boxes for plastic and glass.

More than 750 people signed the petition, which passes the threshold for scrutiny committee members to discuss the issue.

The council recently began a review of its waste collection and recycling services, with bosses looking at national waste strategy before analysing how best to collect rubbish and recycling in the borough.

It is hoped the review will help increase recycling rates and make life easier for residents.

Following the review, options for the future of waste and recycling collections will be development and eventually implemented.

And bosses say the planned review will address the matters raised within the petition.

Head of streetscene, Joanne Swift, said: "The overall objectives of the planned waste review will be to look at the council’s requirements in light of the recently published National Waste Strategy and to also identify how locally we can increase resident participation in recycling.

"The planned work to be undertaken by the council will look to determine how recycling can be made easier for local residents and how we can continue to maintain and deliver high standards of street cleanliness.

"The review will start straight away and will be completed in time for the June 2019 scrutiny committee."

Critics of the current system say bags are frequently blown away following collections and that people would be happy to pay a fee for recycling bins instead.

Cllr Lian Pate, the council’s executive member for community and environmental services, said: “The review will look at the way we collect recycling and whether the system can be improved by adopting a wheelie bin system instead and, if so, how we would do that.

"There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution as different households have different circumstances; we want to find a system that works in the best way possible for our borough overall.

"We also want to make recycling easier for our residents and continue to improve the cleanliness of our streets."