NEIL Prowse's decision to go green has backfired after the father-of-two was slapped on the wrists for recycling the wrong sort of paper.

The electrical engineer from Romsey was stunned to find a yellow sign stuck on his recycling bin warning that he had dumped illegal waste Neil had put shredded paper into the bin, only to discover that it is a recyling no-no.

Despite households across Hampshire being warned to shred any pieces of paper with sensitive information to prevent identity fraud, the region's recycling centres cannot deal with the cut-up waste.

Shredded paper has been banned from the county's roadside rubbish collections because it clogs up their machines and is regarded as a fire risk.

Neil, from Nelson Close, said: "I think it is annoying and a shame. As a family we have worked hard at ensuring we recycle everything we can because we believe it's important, and even bought a new kitchen bin just to collect recyclable waste in.

"Telling us they can't recycle shredded paper just seems daft.

"Why were machines designed without the capability to handle the stuff when there's so much of it around and with the increasing threat of identity fraud this is just likely to increase?

"It almost makes me feel like just not recycling at all, but we will of course."

The warning notice was stuck on Neil's recycling bin by Test Valley Borough Council.

Instead, residents are being told to dispose of the stuff either by using it as pet bedding, composting it in the garden or driving it to paper banks and dumping it there.

Environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth were dismayed with the incident insisting: "It sends out the wrong message."

The spokesman added: "We need to make recycling easy so that more people actively take part. But asking people to separate different types of paper because council's recycling machines can't deal with them is not going to encourage more people to go green and make the effort.

"People are told they should shred documents with sensitive information on them, and in 2007 we should have the technology to recycle it rather than just asking people to put it in their normal bins."

Mike Bull, of consumer watchdog scamsdirect.com, added: "It's absolutely ridiculous.

"ID theft is one of the biggest problems facing consumers these days and everyone in the industry is imposing on people the need to shred their confidential documents.

"We're also told we need to recycle our waste."

However a spokesman for Project Integra, said: "Recyclables collected from Hampshire households are taken to one of two materials recovery facilities in Hampshire for sorting and recycling.

"Hi-tech automatic and manual sorting methods are used to separate material into different grades, but unfortunately shredded paper is too small and light to be picked up by the system.

"It is also liable to get caught in machinery.

"Identity fraud is a hot topic at present and shredding private documents is strongly recommended. We advise residents to recycle their shredded paper by putting it in their compost bin, using it for pet bedding or placing it in a high street paper bank where the system for sorting the contents is different."