Questions tabled by the Conservatives have forced the Government to reveal the findings of a £27,000 study that warned of increased health risks from rats, flies and seagulls if rubbish collections were reduced in frequency. The report found that vermin and insects could be "encouraged into the home environment" as a result of fortnightly collections.
Eric Pickles MP, Shadow Local Government Secretary, told The Sunday Telegraph:
"Ministers have been caught red-handed trying to hide worrying research from the Government's own scientists. There is a clear health risk from cuts to weekly rubbish collections, as will become apparent in the summer as temperatures increase. Under Gordon Brown, local residents are paying exorbitant levels of council tax but are failing to get decent public services in return. People genuinely want to improve recycling and go green, but Labour's approach of forcing rubbish cuts is not the answer, as it will harm the local environment and public health."
