An estate agent has teamed up with West Suffolk Council to help residents improve the quality of their recycling.

The council identified a high contamination rate in the recycling from Spring Close, Haverhill, where residents in flats use a communal bin area.

They contacted the new managing agents, Balmforth Estate Agents, with an offer to improve the situation for residents.

Councillor Peter Stevens, cabinet member for operations for West Suffolk Council, said: "I’m delighted that Balmforth Estate Agents were so willing to work with us to fix an issue they had only recently taken on.

"I extend the offer of support to other managing agents of other properties with communal bins, experiencing similar problems.

"The challenge with recycling is protecting the quality of the material carefully collected by mindful residents.

"If nappies, glass, food waste and other non-recyclable material contaminate the load we collect, it all has to be treated as waste and burned.

"It is also very helpful that Balmforth are giving the recycling guidance to new residents, and I thank them for their openness to taking action."