Wirral Labour's environment chief is set to clash with Government ministers over demands for increased recycling – and the threat of bin collections being reduced to every THREE weeks.

Councillor Phill Brightmore told the Globe today: "I can confirm we will NOT be introducing three weekly collections of general waste. Wirral will continue with fortnightly collections."

Liberal Democrat councillor Stuart Kelly was behind an online petition campaign against the scheme, which was signed by more than 4,000 people.

Councillor Kelly said: "It was clear from the strength of the petition that people of Wirral did not want three-weekly collections.

"But alongside that scheme there was also a plan to reduce the size of the green bins.

"I challenge Cllr Brightmore to tell us what he has decided to do about that."

The council faces pressure from the Government to reach its target of recycling 50% of all waste by 2020 - while local authority funding has been slashed.

Wirral has been obliged to make cuts of almost £200m since 2010 – and even more reductions are expected to be imposed.

Experts had advised that one way to achieve budget targets is to reduce bin collections to every three weeks.

The council launched one of its largest ever consultation exercises to see what residents thought of the choices being offered.

Councillor Brightmore said the borough’s tax payers must "not be forced to foot the bill to meet the Government's recycling targets."

He said any changes must be fully-funded by Whitehall and acceptable to residents .

And he insisted Wirral householders must not face the inconvenience of waiting three weeks for bins to be emptied.

 He said: "The extensive consultation is absolutely clear, our borough wants to recycle. It's a priority and the right thing to do. We must recycle more. I'm committed to this.

“However, the way we recycle needs to be effective, affordable and acceptable to Wirral's residents.”

Conservative group leader Cllr Ian Lewis said: "Wirral’s recycling performance took a nosedive when the town hall decided to start charging residents for emptying their brown garden refuse bins and people voted with their feet.

“Regardless of today’s panic U-urn, they are still looking to impose an extra bin for food waste on residents, coupled with a smaller green bin costing the council around £1.5m.

“It’s no use blaming the Government – for once, the council cabinet needs to step up and take responsibility and admit they and their army of consultants were wrong.”