A COUNCIL is celebrating after cominging second in the country for improving its recycling and composting rates.

Figures from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council recording an annual percentage increase of 20.8, to return a recycling rate of 35.7 per cent for 2005-6, compared to 14.9 per cent the previous year.

The rate also places the borough as the top performing council in the North-East, adding to its success in becoming a Beacon authority, awarded for its waste management and recycling.

The council's cabinet member for environmental improvement, Councillor Bob Stanway, said: "It was a bold decision to make the changes we have done, and today's figures show it was the right one.

"First and foremost, we have a debt of gratitude to pay to the borough's residents, who, in the main, have supported these changes."

The council's director of area management, Simon Dale, added: "The changes have not been easy to implement, but have been wholeheartedly embraced by our workforce.

"But, while we are absolutely delighted with these statistics and our place at the top of recycling councils, we all accept there is more to do to get the service as we would like it for the borough's residents."