If approved, the move is expected to save the council around £423,000 in 2023/24 and around £705,000 per year.

The council hopes it will encourage more people to recycle, boosting the town’s recycling rate from the 28% it is currently.

The move would not include blocks of flats with communal bins where collections would remain weekly. However, flats and other properties with individual bins would move to alternate weekly with grey bins (refuse) being collected one week and red bins (recycling) being collected the following week.

Cllr Mohammed Nazir, lead member for transport and the local environment, said: ‘Since 2019 we have been discussing the possibility of a move to alternate weekly collections in a bid to increase our recycling rates and cut down on our waste costs.

‘During the pandemic with everyone at home we did not believe it was an appropriate time, but now we are bringing forward a proposal which we believe will not only save money but also encourage people to do more to reduce their waste and up their recycling which has wide-ranging benefits for the local and worldwide environment.’