WEAR Valley district councillors have agreed to add an extra refuse wagon to their fleet.

The £25,000 vehicle is needed because the council's spare wagon is already used by its wheelie bin collection service and hiring in cover costs £1,100 a week.

Brian Graham, head of service contracts, told community services committee members that access made collection difficult at 2,500 homes out of 29,100 in the district.

Because rounds had taken longer and crews were being paid overtime, the wheelie bin service had overspent by £17,000 in April.

Mr Graham said the addition vehicle would mean all the district's bins could be collected every week without extra costs.

He told the committee that the changes in rounds could only be evaluated once the service was up and running.

Mr Graham said: "It became evident that the rounds were too tight and the spare vehicle was having to be used each day as a frontline vehicle."

The new wagon will cost and extra £9,000 a year in fuel and about £10,000 for repairs and maintenance. Funding is from underspending in the council's 2004/05 general revenue account.