Winchester residents are being asked where in the city they think a new recycling centre should go.

The centre is planned as a replacement for the Garnier Road site, which critics say is too small, overcrowded and beset by traffic congestion.

Hampshire County Council has already submitted a planning application to build a new state-of-the-art centre on an industrial site in Bar End.

However, from tomorrow until Friday the authority will be staging an exhibition outlining its plans at the Winchester Library in Jewry Street.

Winchester residents are some of the best recyclers in Hampshire, with more than 64 per cent of items dropped at the Garnier Road site subsequently recycled. It makes it the best performing of all the 26 recycling centres across Hampshire.

With the new centre, the plans also feature a groundbreaking scheme called an eco-centre - a two-storey building built entirely on eco-friendly principles.

The scheme is being co-funded by the Winchester Alliance for Mental Health, the Trinity Centre and FareShare Southampton.

It is hoped the new facility will provide much-needed jobs for some of the city's most vulnerable citizens.

The building would house a training and employment workshop to renovate furniture, a store for food donated by supermarkets prior to distribution, and an education centre and administration offices.

The county council's executive member for environment, Councillor Keith Estlin, said: "We want to hear what people think of these proposals, so I urge them to look at the exhibition. We'll take everyone's views into consideration when we're finalising the scheme."