IT is a case of waste not, want not in a North-East town.

Residents of Hartlepool are being encouraged to recycle their waste and at the same time enrich their gardens.

The borough council is selling expensive compost bins at nominal prices.

A pilot scheme last year saw more than 1,000 composters snapped up at similar subsidised prices.

Helen Beaman, Hartlepool Council's waste management officer, said: "We are always urging residents to reduce the amount of rubbish they put in their bins and composting is one way of achieving this.

"These bins allow people to turn waste, such as fruit and vegetable peelings and grass and garden cuttings, into rich natural compost for use on their gardens."

Information leaflets have gone out to all Neighbourhood Services offices around the town and to the council's Stranton Nursery, in Tanfield Road.

The offer closes on Wednesday. To collect compost bins from the nursery, people will need a pre-paid voucher, which they can get by calling the local-rate order hotline, on 0845 1306090, posting either of the coupons on the leaflets, or logging on to www.getcomposting.com/hartlepool.

Vouchers will arrive by post before Home Composting Week starts on May 26.