A FAMILY of recycling "fanatics" in Poole who sorted too much rubbish to fit in their bin claim the council told them to "throw it away".

Marc D'Espagnac, 27, couldn't understand why the bin men refused to collect the boxed recyclables he put out with his full blue bin and called the council for an explanation.

The Lindsay Road resident said: "I spoke to someone at the council who said when the blue recycling bins overflow put the rubbish in the black bin - it's madness.

"After we've gone out of our way to recycle it's scandalous really."

Mr D'Espagnac lives with his wife Vivian, 29, their newborn baby and her parents.

Vivian added: "We're recycling fanatics. We've been doing everything we can to do our bit for the environment and Poole council won't even collect the rubbish."

A spokesman for Borough of Poole said the council's policy was to only collect rubbish placed in the bins to enable collections to be "safe and efficient".

Kate Langdown, principal manager for waste operations, environmental and consumer protection services, Borough of Poole, said: "The council is keen to promote recycling and runs a popular bin swap scheme which allows residents to exchange their existing blue bin for a larger- sized bin if they wish to recycle more waste.

"Mr D'Espagnac has requested a larger blue bin, which the council has agreed to supply."