RECYCLING has rocketed through the roof as the New Forest area ends the year near the very top of the UK's local authorities.

A £192,000 reward from the government has meant that even more rubbish will be put to good use in the future.

New Forest District Council is the seventh best in the UK and its waste management officer Roger Sired revealed that its figures of 3,000 tons of glass at the bottle banks and 2,000 tons of paper at the paper banks have shattered all records.

"People have done extremely well and the figures are going up all the time," he said, adding that a further 9,000 tons of paper have been picked up by the authority's refuse collectors.

The record-busting performance has meant a £192,000 cash grant from the Department for the environment, Food and Rural Affairs which will be used to scoop up even more rubbish.

Because of the cost, the Ringwood and Fordingbridge areas have so far gone without the two-tier rubbish collection system whereby people put out a black bag containing non-recyclables and a clear one with recyclables.

From the start of the next financial year, 11,000 households in those areas will have the clear sacks as well and the council's environment portfolio holder Councillor Nick Smith said that would push the figures even higher.

"This is great news for Ringwood and Fordingbridge and will enable us to provide a much better service at no extra cost to the council tax payer.

"New Forest already has one of the highest recycling rates in the country and we have set ourselves even more challenging targets for the next few years. This will help us achieve them."

As well as its kerbside and garden gate collections, the district has 85 public

recycling centres for glass, many of which also have facilities to recycle paper, card and cans.