CHRISTMAS tree collections in Bournemouth could be axed from next year in a bid by the council to reduce costs.

A report is due to go before cabinet on Wednesday (Dec14) asking members to approve proposals for an alternate weekly collection for refuse bins across the borough.

But also to support a review of the council's waste policies including additional bins, excess waste, Bank Holiday collections and Christmas tree collections.

The report states that it costs Bournemouth council £23,000 a year to collect and dispose of Christmas Trees.

But says there are a number of other options open to residents which would help save the council money.

These include paying a charity like Diverse Abilities to collect the tree and dispose of it.

The report also states that households which opt in for garden waste can cut up their trees for collection in February, or take them for free disposal to Millhams Community Recycling Centre or Wilverley Road Recycling Centre in Christchurch,

The council said it was just undergoing a review of the service and that no decisions about its future would be made until after that review.

Currently Christmas trees are collected over a two-week period usually starting the second weekend of January.

However the report states that "due to the difficult nature of collections such as dark conditions, trees placed in hedges, trees placed on private property, collections have historically run for an additional two to three weeks with the associated cost implications".

There are also plans to reduce the number of Bank Holiday collections across the borough if the waste policies review gets the go ahead.

According to the report "reducing the hours worked on Bank Holidays and the associated overtime rates" could save the council £36,000.

The report states: "Under current contracts, operational staff are not required to work on Bank Holidays.

"As result, on the eight annual Bank Holidays, operational staff are paid a substantial overtime rate to cover the daily collections, which may prove unsustainable going forward."

Officers will finalise changes to Bank Holiday operations before implementation of the proposed alternate weekly collection service in April next year, says the council.

Larry Austin, service director for environment, said: "Councillors will be asked to support a review of relevant waste policies. If agreed officers will be asked to review each service and report their findings to the relevant portfolio holder before any final decisions are made.”