Fire risk scuppers doorstep recycling trials in estates

Fire officers have warned London councils to stop doorstep recycling collections in estate blocks.

They say trial schemes being tested across the capital are dangerous as recycling materials left on landings can catch light or block escape routes.

Hackney council has put an end to its scheme and residents will have to take items to a central recycling point.

A report for Hackney and Westminster councils by safety consultancy Bureau Veritas found rubbish left on doorsteps in estate blocks could contain up to 100 per cent combustible materials. In a letter to all boroughs, Steve Tureck, Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner for community safety, wrote: "Doorstep collection in its present form is unacceptable in properties that rely on single internal staircases, internal corridors or escape in one direction only as part of the means of escape." Residents said they were disappointed by the changes. Gary Armstrong, chair of Gascoyne II estate residents' association in Hackney, said: "With proper care to ensure waste does not block fire exits, there is no need at all to stop doorstep collections when recycling is so important."