PLANS to hand Worcester's bin collections, street sweeping and park maintenance to the private sector have officially been dumped, it has emerged.

Worcester City Council's new Labour leadership has made its first major decision by deciding to axe the controversial project alongside backing from the Greens.

But the move has angered the Conservative opposition, which says the very first decision by the Labour administration will create "a £2 million black hole" within five years.

The old Tory leadership, which lost control of the Guildhall last week, was relying on outsourcing most of the cleaner and greener department in a bid to save £400,000 per year.

It had spent more than 12 months working on the proposals, with a view to signing a contract to start from September 2017 with one or more private providers.

The Labour decision means around 110 workers, most of which were expected to have their employment transferred to a private firm, will stay on the payroll.

Before the local elections the Labour Party made a manifesto pledge to confine the idea to the rubbish bin if it got into office.

Labour Councillor Adrian Gregson, the city's new leader, said: "I've made a clear manifesto commitment not to pursue the privatisation of these services, and council officers have therefore now been asked not to carry out any further procurement work to this end.

"Recent consultation has demonstrated just how much local residents value our cleaner and greener services."

A statement from the authority added that the £400,000 yearly savings will "still need to be delivered to balance the budget".

The council has not revealed how it aims to plug the gap, but says the department's "working practices" will be put under review ahead of the new Labour leadership's first cabinet meeting in June.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, leader of the opposition Conservative group, said: "The outsourcing of cleaner and greener was not ideological on our part, it was a means to an end.

"It was about maintaining standards - I now fear Labour will go back to what they did before, with knee-high grass and play areas being ripped out.

"They can't balance the budget without it, that's £400,000 a year - a £2 million black hole over the lifetime of the medium-term financial plan."

The old Tory administration had already forked out thousands of pounds in preparation costs on the big project, including creating a service specification plan.

They were hoping to form a tie-in with councils in Malvern and Wychavon, both of which are Conservative controlled, for a joint contract on bin collections.