CHERWELL residents have taken advantage of cut-price recycling bins, buying nearly 1,500 in just two months.

Cherwell District Council sold enough recycling bins during its winter bin sale to fill three-and-a-half Olympic sized swimming pools with waste.

Throughout December and January the council reduced the cost of its blue recycling and brown food and garden waste bins to just £10 in an effort to encourage people to recycle.

Residents bought 1,156 new blue bins and 327 brown bins – six times as many in the same period the previous year.

Already, 2,800 blue bins have been sold in 2013/14 – more than double the 1,200 blue bins sold in 2012/13.

Nigel Morris, lead member for clean and green, said: “Not only was this our best winter bin sale, it was also our most successful ever sale of blue bins, with 88 more blue bins sold compared to the summer sale.

“By boosting recycling levels, we will increase council income and reduce the amount we pay to send waste to landfill, helping to prevent a rise in council tax.”