BLACK bin collections “will categorically not” move to once every two weeks, council bosses have insisted.

Serious concerns were raised by Basildon’s Tories as they slammed bosses for proposing to move collections to bi-weekly and to charge residents for some of their waste collection.

But David Harrison, councillor responsible for neighbourhoods and public spaces, insisted this was not the case as well as revealing plans for a fleet of electric bin lorries.

Garden waste collections are set to move to every two weeks, but black bin and food waste will remain as weekly and residents will not face additional charges. He said: “We’re not moving everything fortnightly. This was all agreed to be put to councillors this week by a cross-party group, which had two Conservative councillors on it.

“We want to get the whole fleet as electric, but this will take some time.

“We must make sure that Basildon is well-placed to lead on environmental performance together, and ensure that we work alongside our residents to reduce our overall environmental impact and meet the ambitious targets placed upon us.”

If plans for fortnightly garden waste collections are approved, a trial will take place in December and January.

But Andrew Baggott, leader of Basildon’s Tories, raised concerns garden waste would only be the beginning and that the Labour-led coalition would eventually push for all collections to be every other week.

He said: “We are overwhelmingly against fortnightly collection of black sacks and charging residents, many of whom are on low incomes.

“This is not the first time that the administration has proposed policies that hit our low income and vulnerable residents and we cannot condone this attack on what they see as ‘easy pickings’ to fund their vanity projects.