COMPOSTING is the latest craze to hit Warrington, with composters and water butts going on test in the town.

Warrington Borough Council and the manufacturer Blackwall have teamed up to give people in the town a chance to trial the products as part of the Rethink Rubbish campaign.

Clr Terry O'Neill, the council's executive board member for environment and regeneration, said: "Twenty-one per cent of the average bin is made up of organic rubbish, so composting is a fantastic way of slimming your bin, reducing the amount of rubbish buried at the borough's landfill sites and putting the goodness back into your garden for free!

"This time of year, thousands of people go out in their gardens to clear out weeds and start new planting. Composters give an ideal solution for getting rid of your green rubbish, while providing you with compost to help your new plants grow.

"And what better way to water these plants than with a free trial water butt, which saves on your water bills too!"

Among the items that can be composted are shredded paper and torn card, dead cut flowers, soft hedge clippings, fallen leaves, grass cuttings, old plants, raw fruit and vegetable peelings, tea bags and egg shells.

Anyone can try out the composters and water butts for 60 days to see how easy home composting is, and when the trial period is up the users can either have them collected or buy them at a knockdown price.

Call the composting trial hotline on 0870 849 4865 for more details.