Government minister Eric Pickles has approved a grant of £200,000 to help boost recycling in East Cambridgeshire.

The Department for Communities and Local Government selected East Cambridgeshire District Council as one of 46 successful bids to receive funding through a new reward scheme.

The council will receive £197,000 which will be used to fund a monthly prize draw that residents will be entered into if they put their recycling bin out for collection containing the correct materials.

The scheme is funded for two years and is expected to start in June.

Councillor Anna Bailey, chairman of the support services committee at the district council, said: “Our waste and recycling service has been transformed over the past two years with the introduction of wheelie bins after winning grant funding from government.

£Thanks to the fantastic residents of East Cambs we have gone from recycling 33 per cent of our waste to 54 per cent. This month we have again been successful in applying to central Government for more money which we will use to increase our recycling rates even further.

“I am so proud of what has been achieved so far and I really hope and believe that we can top the table for Cambridgeshire – but we need to keep working, as we will have to hit 60 per cent if we want to be the best in the county.”