RESIDENTS could be going 'wheelie' green in a bid to improve the town's recycling record.

In a ground-breaking project, 10,000 houses across the borough could get another wheelie bin to take all their garden waste and vegetable peelings.

The move follows investigations which found that, of Chorley's 35,500 tonnes of household waste, up to 4,000 tonnes of green waste a year could be collected.

Councillor Mary Wilson, the council's executive member for community services, said: "This plan is only part of our council's commitment to the Lancashire Waste Management Strategy.

"We are putting all our efforts into increasing our recycling percentage to 32 per cent by 2010. We can only do this with the active help and participation of the people of Chorley in this and other schemes.

"We know people in Chorley want to recycle more and this is their chance to help us improve the environment."

The design of the scheme follows consultation between the council and other local authorities who operate similar processes. The Chorley project is a partnership with South Ribble and Preston councils, the county council, Lancashire Waste Services Ltd and the Lancashire Environment Fund.

The council said the bins would be emptied every fortnight throughout the year and the contents separately processed to make a valuable soil improver and other landscaping and agricultural products.

The collections will be trialled for three years before the council makes a decision whether to continue or expand them to more households.

During this period it will be jointly funded by a grant from the Lancashire Environment Fund, the council and recycling credits from the county council.