Households across southern Oxfordshire will get wheelie bins under changes to the way rubbish is collected.

South Oxfordshire District Council and the Vale of White Horse District Council have teamed up to create a shared waste service in a bid to save more than half a million pounds a year — and increase the amount of recycled waste by 50 per cent.

Waste firm Verdant will implement the changes, including a weekly food waste collection for composting.

The £8m deal is being rolled out across South Oxfordshire in June, and in the Vale in October 2010.

Families will have two wheelie bins; one for recycling — including glass and plastics — and one for non-recyclable waste, which will be collected fortnightly on alternate weeks.