Ealing Councillors joined in with rubbish collectors on Monday (June 6) and defended the introduction of controversial new wheelie bins.

Labour Ealing Council leader Cllr Julian Bell and Cllr Bassam Mahfouz donned yellow overalls in Hanwell for the launch of the boroughs new rubbish system.

Around 92% of households will have two wheelie bins, to be collected on alternate weeks, replacing a system of bin bags collected weekly.

Although food waste will still be collected weekly, residents reacted angrily to the bins which are claimed to be too big and causing visual pollution.

But Cllr Mahfouz, cabinet member for transport, environment and leisure, defended the bins as having benefits including eased congestion.

'Less congestion'

Cllr Mahfouz has promised less congestion

He said: "This is first morning of an entirely new system and I can already see the difference the new bins are going to make.

"I’m sure that residents will notice and appreciate the improvement as well.

"It’s much quicker for crews to collect household waste using the wheelie bins and the change to alternate weekly collection means fewer trucks on the road and less congestion.

"The new service will make it much easier for local people to do the right thing and recycle more and I am especially encouraging people to recycle all of their food waste every week using their small green bins.

"Disposing of food waste properly will help to keep black wheelies cleaner and it has a huge benefit to the environment."

'Working hard'

Cllr Bell thanked residents for their patience

Ahead of Monday's change there were reports people had received the wrong bins, no bins at all or bins that were too big.

But Cllr Bell said: "This is one of the biggest changes introduced in the borough in recent years, affecting nearly every household, and I would like to say thank you to all of our residents for their patience and cooperation over the last few months.

"Collection crews are working hard to make sure that the transition to the new system goes as smoothly as possible and residents can do their bit by making sure that they bring the correct bin to the boundary of their property by 7am on their collection day. "

Residents who are having trouble with their bins can visit the council's website or call 020 8825 6000.