A compost hotline has been launched to encourage householders to recycle more of their green waste.

Almost 100,000 tonnes of garden and kitchen waste - 30 per cent of all household waste in Oxfordshire - is thrown into landfill sites every year and the county council has launched the hotline to give advice on how to turn this into organic compost.

Experts will give advice on everything from what material makes good compost to how to prevent it from smelling.

The county council sells subsidised composters to gardeners, and council waste project management officer Adam Symons said he hoped the hotline would boost their use further.

The compost hotline is on 01865 815 281. To get a cut-price composter call 0870 844 3006.