Residents of Christchurch are getting help to enable them to recycle household batteries.

New red battery bags are being made available by Christchurch Council to encourage residents to recycle household batteries via the existing kerbside recycling scheme rather than putting them into the normal household refuse which goes to landfill.

The battery bags can be collected from the Civic Offices in Bridge Street or the Information Centre in the High Street or residents can call the Council on 01202 495000.

The bags should be placed on top of the kerbside recycling box for collection as part of the existing kerbside recycling collection service. The bag will be emptied and then returned to the householder with their recycling box for them to use again.

Cllr John Lofts, portfolio holder for Protecting the Environment at Christchurch Council, said: “We are introducing this new collection service for our residents to help protect the environment and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

“We hope that our residents will use the battery bags to recycle their old batteries safely but we would ask them, if possible, to hold onto them until they have a few before putting the battery bag out.”