THE introduction of wheelie bins into Darlington has been hailed as a success.

The implementation of the bins was successful, delivered within budget and achieved a reduction in street cleaning costs, according to a council report.

The report was presented to Darlington Borough Council’s efficiency and resources scrutiny committee just over a year since the bins were delivered to households across the town.

It said the project had cost £36,320 less than estimated and had reduced the cost of street cleaning by £100,000 through the loss of four staff and two vehicles.

However, since June 2013, fly tipping in the town has increased.

The report said: “Recorded incidents of small fly tips equivalent of a black bag have increased since implementation of wheeled bins.

“For the period June 2012 to the end of March 2013, there were 1,706. For the same period following implementation of wheeled bins there were 2,190.”

The report went on to say: “This is not surprising as the majority of black bag fly tips prior to implementation of wheeled bins would have just been picked up as part of the back lane cleanse, whereas now they are reported as a fly tip as they are not included in the general refuse collection."