Mothers in the Cherwell District are unhappy at the prospect of their refuse bins being emptied only once a fortnight.

They fear their green wheelie bins will be smelling and overflowing with rubbish by the time the dustbin men come round every two weeks.

Mother-of-two Serinne Curtis, of West Hawthorn Road, Ambrosden, near Bicester, said: "It would not be a bad idea in the winter, but not in the summer.

"Apart from the smells, most bins are full every week, particularly when children are on school holidays. I do a lot of recycling, but my bin is always full."

She said: "Even now, rubbish in plastic bags is not always collected."

Another mother, Ann Wasyliw, of Fair Close, Bicester, said: "I would not like it. I am very good at recycling, but my bin still gets full."

The fortnightly collection is being introduced by Cherwell District Council to help increase recycling.

The 54,000 households in the district will be given a brown bin for garden refuse, to add to the green wheelie bin for general rubbish and a blue box for papers, magazines and fabric.

Norman Bolster, environment portfolio holder, said: "Families with babies and large families will be able to have a larger wheelie bin."

He said people concerned that unwanted meat would begin to smell in the bins should wrap scraps in newspaper .

Geoff Melotti, the council's amenity services manager, said: "One weekly collection would be called Waste Week for the wheelie bins, and the other would be called Recycling Week for the blue and brown bins."

The brown bins will be brought in during August in a scheme costing almost £1.5m.