BLACK bin collections in the borough are set to become less frequent with Wigan Council looking to make savings as a result of budget cuts.

The council is proposing to reduce them from fortnightly to every three weeks from next September in a move it says will save £2 million a year.

But one councillor believes binning fortnightly collections is a ‘step to far’ and fears that it will spark rat infestations in the borough.

Independent Atherton councillor Jamie Hodgkinson says he will be raising his concerns at the town hall and asking if larger families would be provided with bigger black bins to hold all their household waste if the proposed changes are given the go ahead following a borough-wide consultation launched today, Friday.

"I think that this move is a step too far because it comes before the council has managed to get everybody on board with its recycling,” he said.

"Many still use black bins to recycle food waste, even though they should know to use green bins.

“The upshot of that is much of it goes into the black bin, and moving to a three-week collection could easily result in rats and vermin being attracted to overflowing bins.”

Green bin collections will also be reduced to once every three weeks from next year, but only between April and October.

Wigan borough is currently the only authority in Greater Manchester to still have fortnightly collections for standard size black bins.

Needing to save £45 million by 2020 as part of government austerity measures, council bosses say the move to a three-week rota would make the service more efficient, reduce landfill charges and boost recycling rates – the authority will face a huge fine unless the target of 50 per cent of waste is recycled in the borough by 2020.

The savings would help to protect services such as school crossing patrols and libraries.

The council’s budget proposals show that school crossing patrols have been safeguarded, with bosses concerned that axing them, as other authorities intend to do, would put youngsters’ safety at risk.

The town hall also plans to limit council tax increases next year to the amount permitted to raise extra funds for adult social care.

Council leader Lord Peter Smith, who insists that the proposed bin collection changes will not result in job losses for the borough’s cohort of binmen, said: “The changes focus on delivering our financial savings as well as increasing our recycling rate.

“We will face fines in the future if we don’t recycle as a borough.

“Our research shows that changes to collections like those that we are proposing are having a positive impact in terms of saving money and improving recycling rates.

“This is all about us working together to deliver local services in these challenging times.

“It is not an easy conversation to have but we can’t afford to carry on as we are.”

Objections to the budget proposals can be aired via the Your Council, Your Say survey which opened today, Friday.

To have your say visit wigan.gov.uk.