FIVE thousand readers have now signed up to the Evening Press Bin It! campaign.

Since we launched our fight to keep weekly household waste only two weeks ago, readers have flooded our Walmgate office with petitions forms and clicked online to back our stance.

Bin It! is opposed to City of York Council's plans to scrap the weekly refuse collections for 60,000 households, while at the same time supporting efforts to boost recycling.

Next week, the authority intends to collect ordinary household rubbish every fortnight, with collections of green garden waste every other week.

Many residents and homeowners who have signed our petition fear fortnightly refuse collections will mean swarms of flies and appalling odours during the summer months as household waste overflows.

The council says it would cost an extra £1 million to keep weekly collections - money the authority claims it does not have.

Among those who have backed our campaign is Michael Turner, of Bishopthorpe, York, who has sent a stinging letter to council bin bosses.

Mr Turner, who has a family of six, said he was "extremely concerned" about the twin bin collection service proposals.

He said he was confused how some councils, such as Selby, managed to continue weekly refuse collections alongside fortnightly recycling, while York could not. He wrote: "My primary reason for writing is to object strongly to your proposal for fortnightly collection of the main grey bin.

"I am sure you will already have been contacted by scores of people expressing the same concern. As a family of six, our bin is regularly over-flowing which causes a major headache particularly as, as you state in your leaflet, York bin men are actively discouraged from collecting extra bags (unlike in, say, East Riding.....where they seem willingly do so).

"A fortnightly collection, even allowing for a slight reduction due to pre-sorting, will have a disastrous effect in terms of the immediate environment for York residents, hygiene, health and lifestyle.

"I do not claim this out of ignorance. My parents live in Lichfield, which was an early adopter of re-cycling and is now, supposedly, a model example for other councils throughout the UK. The reality is somewhat different! As my parents report, in the summer months they are regularly plagued by flies and the smell of two week old rubbish can be almost overwhelming."

Updated: 10:02 Wednesday, September 28, 2005