A GOVERNMENT fund of £250m will not be enough to restore weekly bin collections, the leader of the North-East’s biggest council has said.

Tory Communities Secretary Eric Pickles yesterday pledged £250m to help more than 70 councils end unpopular fortnightly collections.

Councils will be able to apply for cash to restore weekly services – and to reward residents for recycling.

Mr Pickles said: “Labour’s barmy bin rules have made putting your rubbish out more complicated than solving a Rubik’s cube.

“The public are fed up of all the bin dos and don'ts – they just want a simple service, which is why the Government is making sure councils offer a good weekly collection and make it easier to go green.

“We’ve called time on the town hall Talibin and have ditched Labour’s policies of bin cuts, bin fines and bin taxes in the dustbin of history.”

More than half of English authorities now collect rubbish on a fortnightly basis.

Simon Henig, Labour leader of Durham County Council, delivered its first new “twin bins” on Wednesday, ahead of a wholesale switch to fortnightly collections by the summer.

He said his council would look carefully at the new scheme, but added: “The total amount available [up to £5m per council] is going to fall short of the savings that we’re likely to make under the new system [up to £12m by 2017].

“If the Government really wants to encourage councils to reverse the trend, it needs to look at landfill tax.”

Landfill tax is set to rise by £8 a tonne every year from April, costing Durham £1.1m extra in 2012-13 alone.

Hilary Benn, Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, said local people were best placed to decide how rubbish should be collected – not Mr Pickles, sitting behind his desk in Whitehall.

The £250m could be better spent on saving Sure Start centres or caring for elderly people, Mr Benn added.

Darlington Borough Council collects rubbish weekly and recycling fortnightly.

A spokeswoman said the authority was examining the proposals and criteria and would then decide whether to apply for funding.

Stockton Borough Council also collects rubbish weekly and recycling fortnightly.

Gateshead Council is to introduce fortnightly collections next month.