COUNCIL chiefs in Bournemouth and Poole won't have microchips in wheelie bins - unless the government forces them to.

Ministers' plans to press ahead with chip-and-bin schemes are still on track despite one council saying the technology failed to work.

The microchips enable bins to be weighed by the refuse lorry so the amount each household recycles and throws away can be assessed.

South Norfolk Council became the first in England to use the micro-chipped bins in 2002 but has scrapped it following technology problems. It blamed a combination of electrical, data, mechanical and hydraulic faults.

The government said it has yet to pass legislation to enable pilot schemes to take place but said it still plans to forge ahead and the earliest pilots would start is April next year.

But Bournemouth and Poole councils say they have no intentions to implement chip and bin schemes unless they are forced to do so by the government.

The launch of Bournemouth's new smaller wheelie bins in September 2006 was clouded in controversy following revelations that they had been secretly tagged.

Later, the borough's chief executive admitted that the council had been wrong to microchip 70,000 new bins without informing residents.

Councillor Robert Lawton, cabinet member for environment and transport, said: "We currently do not have any plans to implement this scheme and will not unless forced to do so by the government."

And the Borough of Poole said they have no intentions of chipping wheelie bins.

Don Collier, portfolio holder for protecting Poole environment, said: "The only chips that should be put in bins are the ones that people don't want to eat.

"There is an unreasonable belief that technology can solve all problems.

"This is a classic example of that being incorrect. If you make it easy, people will do it."