Barnet Council's recycling policies won high praise last week from the Labour Party.

The council was awarded the party's Local Government Best Practice Award for 'leading change' the third time it has scooped the prize in the last four years for their doorstep recycling collections and the new recycling centre in Summers Lane, North Finchley.

Coincidentally, Local Government Minister Alan Whitehead, visited the Summers Lane site on Thursday last week to see what he could learn.

"Some people say recycling is something central government should arrange," he said. "But Barnet have demonstrated that local government can do it."

He also praised the council's partnership with not-for-profit company ECT which ran both operations.

"It really is, I think, a good example of how to do it. Sometimes it goes disastrously wrong. It's a good practice that people can learn from and government should encourage from that good lesson."

Council leader Alan Williams, who met Dr Whitehead at the Summers Lane centre, said the site recycled more than half of the waste it handles.

"That's better for the environment, but it's also better for the council taxpayer because we save money on landfill costs and collecting rubbish," he said. "We also get money back through selling the materials that we can invest in other services. I urge local people to get behind the scheme."

The doorstep recycling scheme was introduced last October and should be available to all houses in the borough by the end of April. The collections should be available to all flats by the end of 2002.