JEAN Fooks, the city councillor in charge of Oxford's controversial fortnightly waste collection service, has ruled out introducing a controversial pay-as-you-throw scheme.

Changes to the draft Climate Change Bill published on Monday allow local authorities to pilot schemes where householders could be penalised for binning too much rubbish.

But Ms Fooks, executive member for a cleaner city, said Oxford would not be one of the local authorities to try out a pilot scheme.

She said: "We will not be opting for pay-as-you-throw in Oxford for a number of reasons.

"Firstly it is not a fair scheme because it penalises large families - some households have more waste than others.

"Secondly, some people's wheelie bins are out of sight and you could get a situation where people start dumping waste in other people's bins.

"Thirdly, some residents in blocks of flats share bins, so it would be difficult to work out how much individuals should pay."

Dr Frances Kennett, who refused to pay a month's council tax last month after finding rats at her home in Great Clarendon Street, Jericho, said she was delighted Ms Fooks was ruling out pay-as-you-throw She said: "I am delighted to be able to say that on this occasion I am in total agreement with Jean, because on occasions the debate between us has got slightly embittered.

"A pay-as-you-throw system would discriminate against larger families, those with babies in nappies and old folk."