CONTROVERSIAL plans to move all Merseyside councils to fortnightly bin collections will be presented to the public next month.

The plans hidden away in a document on the website of the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) also suggest charging for collecting residents’ green waste.

Currently, Liverpool and St Helens collect refuse on a weekly basis, Knowsley has already said it wants to move to fortnightly collections, and Sefton and Wirral already only collect every two weeks.

The MWDA will start a public consultation on its joint municipal waste management strategy in June.

Liverpool councillor Paul Clein, who uncovered the document, said the plan would anger residents if introduced. He said: “I think it is highly suspicious that the consultation is not starting until after the local elections.

“For a lot of people, one of the few things they see for their council tax is their bin being collected each week, it has a deep symbolic resonance. Charging for garden waste collections will mean people recycle less.”

Liverpool’s cabinet member for the environment, Cllr Tim Moore, insisted the council had no plans to introduce fortnightly collections and would not be told what to do by the MWDA.

He added: “I have made it very clear to the MWDA that Liverpool City Council’s policy is to have weekly bin collections and we have no plans to change it.”