PEOPLE have criticised Darlington Borough Council's new waste collection system because workers refuse to collect bags unless they are on the kerb.

The council's new rules will cut costs and produce more funds for recycling schemes, but residents are angry that refuse collectors have refused to collect any rubbish more than 2ft from the kerb.

John Hewitt, of Auckland Avenue, said: "All the bin bags are supposed to be placed at the kerbside, but if we put them there the kids are going to trip over them or they could fall into traffic."

Mother-of-two Julie Bramham said people in Heathfield Park, Middleton St George, had also experienced problems.

Malcolm Guy, of Princess Road, Darlington, said: "Some of the elderly people at the end of the road haven't had theirs collected because they didn't want the kids walking to school to be having to step over rubbish on the pavement."

A council spokeswoman said people were not following instructions and that consultation with groups representing disabled people revealed that placing them at the kebside made them less of a tripping hazard.

She said: "Where the rubbish hasn't been put in the correct place on the first collection run, it won't be collected but another leaflet will be placed through that door to tell them where to place the rubbish. If we continue to let people do this, the borderline gets further towards the property and it defeats the whole object of the system."