Refuse collections will be cut to once a fortnight in a pioneering move aimed at reducing household waste.

Rubbish which can be recycled will be picked up weekly in the ten-week experiment, which will be conducted at 500 homes in Shoreham Beach.

The trial, believed to be the first of its kind, will temporarily replace Adur District Council's fortnightly Blue Box recycling collections.

If successful, weekly recycling collections could be introduced in the district to significantly reduce the amount of rubbish taken to landfill sites.

Interior designer and mum-of-four Anna Stanzl, of Harbour Way, Shoreham Beach, is one of those taking part in the experiment, which begins on Monday.

With her partner David Rees, a computer analyst, she already tries to recycle as much of their rubbish as she can.

She said: "We have been using the Blue Box collections since we moved here ten months ago.

"Increasing recycling and reducing refuse collections is an excellent idea. It will make everyone think about how much they can do for the environment by recycling as much of their rubbish as they can.

"We live in a beautiful part of the country, yet we dump all sorts of things in the bin which just go off to landfill sites.

"Once those sites are full, they are covered over and homes are built on them. I wouldn't want to live in a home built on a rubbish tip."

Anna has been given a list of things suitable for recycling and says at least one third of the family's rubbish doesn't need to go in the dustbin.

She said: "As a mother of two children who use nappies, it worried me they might be hanging around in the dustbin for two weeks, especially as we have foxes around.

"But on the whole, I think it is an excellent idea and if it is successful, I would be happy for it to become permanent."

Homes in the scheme will be monitored to ensure rubbish which cannot be recycled does not build up to an unacceptable level and weekly collections of "unpleasant" items, such as nappies, will be available if residents want.

Council recycling officer Gill Moss said strict Government guidelines meant Adur had to increase the amount of waste it recycled from 17 per cent to 33 per cent by 2004.

She said: "We are asking people to slim their bins by increasing the amount they recycle.

"We put the idea on our web site and it has attracted interest from other councils from all over the country."

Refuse collections will revert back to normal at the end of the trial and results will help identify how much waste could be recycled in future.

Councillors will decide whether to extend the scheme.

A council spokesman said: "It is only by doing things like this that we can begin to address the problem of what we do with household waste.

"Existing landfill sites in West Sussex will be full within eight years. We need to be doing something now."