THE delivery of new ‘twin bins’ to more than 190,000 homes has been completed.

Blue-topped recycling bins were distributed to homes across County Durham as part of Durham County Council’s switch to fortnightly collections.

The system, which sees rubbish and recycling collected on alternate weeks, is already in place in Chester-le-Street, Teesdale, Wear Valley and Sedgefield.

It will come into force in Durham City and Easington next month.

The system has operated in Derwentside for some years.

Councillor Brian Stephens, the council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods and local partnerships, said: "The move to alternate weekly collections is a massive undertaking, with new collection arrangements for almost every home in the county.

"The delivery of almost 200,000 new recycling bins on top of this significant project has meant a great deal of additional work.

"We’re very pleased that the distribution process has gone well and we’re now on track for the final phase of a scheme that will mean savings of between £9m and £12m over the next five years."

For more information on the changes, visit durham.gov.uk/bins or call 03000-261000.