A COUNCIL last night defended its decision to award a multi-million pound contract for thousands of controversial “twin bins” to a German firm, despite a UK company offering a deal quarter of a million pounds cheaper.

Durham County Council, which faces cuts of nearly £150m and is axing 1,600 jobs, has signed a £4.2m contract for the supply of 225,000 bins with German-based ESE, despite a British firm bidding £250,000 cheaper.

The Labour-led council is planning to introduce fortnightly twin bin collections across County Durham in April, despite fears that overflowing bins will cause smells and attract vermin, and despite the Government urging local authorities to stick with weekly services.

It is believed quotes from several UK companies were overlooked in favour of ESE, which is expected to make the bins in Germany or France before shipping them to the North-East. Council chiefs said they followed European procurement rules, which means they are not able to favour UK companies.

Officers made it clear bids were not to be judged on price alone and the winner produced the best all-round deal.

However, The Northern Echo’s source said: “At a time when we are trying to save money, keep jobs in the UK and revive the economy, we are sending this overseas at an extra cost of a quarter of a million pounds to the taxpayer.

“There are a few here still trying to work out how something like this can be justified.”

Andrew Allison, from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “The council could have saved a lot of money here. You would have thought it would have supported UK companies.”

Weekly bin collections were an “essential service” which many families relied on, Mr Allison said.

Doretta Cocks, from the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, said: “I am quite shocked to hear that council taxpayers’ money is being squandered in this way.

“It is so important that our British companies are supported at this difficult time and I would urge the Government minister responsible to investigate this matter.”

Darren Knowd, Durham County Council’s corporate procurement manager, said the authority had followed all EU regulations and clearly set out how the contract would be awarded.

Bidders were told the winner would not be chosen on price alone because it was a high-value deal and it was important the council had confidence it could meet all its requirements, he added. “Taking into account both the price and the quality requirements of the project, the winning bidder produced the best allround offer which provided the council with greater assurance that the project would be satisfactorily completed,” he said.

The council was “very committed” to providing opportunities for local companies and awarded more than 55 per cent of contracts to North- East firms, but legally it could not favour UK bidders.

Many councils have introduced fortnightly bin collections in an effort to encourage householders to recycle more.

But the coalition Government wants to reverse the trend, and earlier this year said it would work with councils to increase the frequency and quality of rubbish collections, although it was forced to admit no extra cash was available for this.

Oliver Sherratt, Durham County Council’s head of direct services, said the council was still awaiting further details of any proposals from the Government. Twin bins had operated successfully in the Derwentside area of County Durham for some years and the system’s rollout countywide would save about £1m a year and increase recycling.