WHERE to put one's wheelie was the top debate in Ulverston this week as a new recycling initiative caused consternation throughout the town.

Complaint lines to South Lakeland District Council were jammed with calls for help after contractors began depositing 12,000 wheelie bins across Ulverston.

Each home is being given a green wheelie for garden refuse and a grey one for general rubbish as part of SLDC's efforts to conquer escalating waste by coercing everyone to divide and recycle. Ulverston is the first town to get new wheelies as part of a programme being rolled out across the district.

But the green scheme has already met resistance as the mansize bins gather in the streets.

Householders with no gardens were bemused to receive the green containers, which must only be used for garden waste.

Meanwhile residents of streets populated by homes without yards or gardens complained that pavements had become blocked with parades of bins. Canal Street, Stanley Street and Steel Street were among the complaint hot-spots.

Everywhere huddles of neighbours could be seen searching for wheelie-stowing space or negotiating bin-shares. Children meanwhile took the opportunity to ride around in the new containers.

On the streets, the reaction was mixed.

"They are ugly and cumbersome," said town resident Meg Rowlandson. "People have to find somewhere to put them. I recycle anyway without all that clobber."

Andrea Simpson asked: "Why do they have to be so big? Where do you put them? You are going to be separating your rubbish so it's going to be less in the main bin anyway."

But others who have not got their wheelie bins yet, were clamouring to join in.

"They're more secure and easier to handle than carrying the rubbish," said Janet Robinson, of Bouth, who has a problem with animals ripping into her bin bags.

At SLDC, council leader Colin Hodgson explained that the contractors were not familiar with Ulverston and were delivering to every home. The drop-off at Canal Street, where the bins could not be accommodated without blocking the pavement, had caused concern and it had been arranged to take the bins away.

"When you give a job to a contractor it isn't easy," he said.

Recycling officer Margaret Blackstone stressed that the authority could tailor the containers to individuals' needs if they got in touch via the helpline on 08450-504434.

"If they haven't got a garden we can take the green bin away. If they can manage with two black bin bags every two weeks they can have a smaller bin. It's just a question of what they want."

But whatever the reaction, the wheelies are definitely here to stay. Goverment requires councils to get households to put waste in containers and achieve tough recycling targets. South Lakeland is at crisis point as the district's landfill space is nearing capacity. Furness household waste currently ends up in Bennett Bank at Barrow but the site will soon be full and rubbish will have to be trucked all the way to Blackpool.