ELECTRONIC 'bugs' planted in wheelie bins across South Cheshire will NOT be used to introduce extra charging for waste disposal, the Guardian can reveal.

Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council has moved to reassure residents after reports in the national press suggested the bugs had been 'secretly planted' in the wheelie bins as a precursor to charging based on the weight of rubbish collected.

Council executive director David Marren has this week guaranteed that the electronic chips will not be used for charging and pointed out that they have only been placed in the borough's brown, green and silver recycling bins.

He explained: "This council does have the microchips but only in the recycling bins. The black bins which go to the landfills have no chips in them.

"It is proof that we have no intention of introducing charges and there are no plans to do that.

"We are advising against charging by waste because you would have fly tipping and people disputing the charges saying it wasn't their rubbish and you would have to prove that it was."

The chips, which have been installed under the moulded front lip of the recycling bins, are used to measure the weight of waste being collected.

A computer inside the refuse vehicle weighs the bin and the amount of recycled material is recorded.

The collated data can be used to determine the borough's best and worst recycling areas.

Mr Marren said: "The chips enable us to target our marketing and education budget into the right areas.

"We are trying to make best use of council tax payers' money. If you know the best recyclers in the borough, there would be no point in sending them a leaflet about it.

"The improvement needs to be from low performing areas.

"The chip tells us the weight of the bin and the address but it doesn't tell us what rubbish is in the bin, the names of the people living there, how many are in the family and so on."

Mr Marren said that the chips enabled the council to easily identify wheelie bins that had been stolen.

He also blasted allegations that the 'bugs' were effectively a spy in the bin that had been planted secretly, saying the council had been open about it.

He continued: "The chips have been mentioned in the board reports. I think we have been up front about it.

"We couldn't be much more up front than that - we can't highlight every sentence in the report.

"We haven't been secretive about it and that is very galling.

"Recycling is all about quality of life and halting climate change. The way to stop it is through recycling and this is damaging to that sort of effort."

Other areas operating with 'tagged' bins include Peterborough, South Norfolk and Woking, with many other councils expected to follow suit in the next couple of years.