THE leader of the council says he is cautious about reintroducing weekly bin collections to Potters Bar and Hertsmere, but has promised to consult publically, after the Government announced a new £250m fund.

Plans unveiled by local government secretary Eric Pickles last night mean local authorities will be offered financial support to restore weekly rubbish collections.

Mr Pickles, who will give more details of the scheme at the Conservative party conference next week, claims it is what most people want.

However, Leader of the Council Morris Bright (Con/Elstree) is not convinced that people would choose to return to the old system.

He said: “I think we need to look at the small print and see how long the funding would last. I wouldn’t want us to burden local taxpayers with extra cost.

“We’ve been using the alternative collection system for over five years now and I imagine people are happy that our recycling rate is at almost 50 per cent.

“I don’t think they would want us to start putting more rubbish in the ground. Instead, I think we need to help people find more ways of recycling.”

However, Cllr Bright said the council will consult all its councillors and members of the public on the subject.

Across the party lines, Labour councillor Ernie Butler (Borehamwood Cowley Hill) also expressed concern on the impact to recycling by increasing general waste collections.

But, he did propose that large blocks of flats might be an exception to the rule due to the amount of waste they produce.

The Government scheme is expected to begin from next April, when funding will be available to councils who guarantee to retain or reinstate weekly collections for at least five years.