IN the week that East Hampshire District Council received government recognition for its recycling and waste reduction programme, mother nature forced the council to cancel rubbish collections from 18,000 homes in the area, including Petersfield properties.

Residents affected by the decision, taken on Monday and Tuesday after the weekend snow and ice left roads in a dangerous condition, will now have to wait until after Christmas to have their household rubbish collected.

The full story can be found in Petersfield Herald of December 23, 1999.