PEOPLE living in the Cotswolds are likely to have their bin collections moved to a different day, it has been announced.

Cotswold District Council says it is planning to 'improve the efficiency' of its waste and recycling collection service, and this will involve a change of collection day for about 70% of households.

New collection days have not yet been announced, but residents can expect a letter to pop through their doors over the next few weeks detailing the changes.

A spokesman said: "Working with our waste contractor Ubico Ltd, we are changing collection zones to balance the workload more evenly, and cost-effectively, across the district.

"The revised zones are scheduled to come into effect on the week beginning September 19.

"During August, all residents who will be assigned a new waste collection day as a result of these changes will receive a detailed letter and a revised collection calendar."

Cllr Sue Coakley, the cabinet member for the environment, said: “Over the last few years there has been a noticeable increase in the population of the District, with many people moving into newly built properties.

"This has had an increasing impact on the efficient running of many waste and recycling collection rounds, resulting in a very heavy workload for crews on some days, and a comparatively light workload on others.

"To counter this effect, we are rebalancing the rounds so that we can get the most out of our current resources and also absorb the impact of further property development over the next few years.

"If we just continue with our current arrangements Council Tax payers would face a large, and unnecessary, increase in expenditure on the waste service because we would have to hire more staff and also purchase new trucks – both would then be surplus to requirements on several days.

“Planning is underway to make this change as smooth as possible.

"Once the fine details have been agreed, the most important task will be to contact the 70% of residents who will be affected by the changes, ensuring that they are made aware of their new collection day."