THE weekly visit from the dustman could become a thing of the past after a report for the government decided that collecting bins fortnightly would not pose a health hazard.

The report found that problems with pests and smells were not automatic consequences of leaving rubbish fortnightly .

The government believes cutting back rubbish collections to every two weeks increases recycling.

Bournemouth Borough Council has no plans to change the current system of collecting recycling every two weeks and other rubbish weekly.

A spokesman said: "We would not be able to say that it would never happen but at the moment the council is happy with the level of recycling and has no plans to change the collection at present."

Cllr Roger West said: "We did consider fortnightly collection but we thought that residents in Bournemouth would rather pay more and keep the weekly collection."

A spokesman for Poole council said it did not have any immediate plans to change to fortnightly collections.

But to householders in Purbeck, the fortnightly service has been a reality since October 2005.

A spokesperson for Purbeck District Council said: "We have been alternating every week collecting household waste one week and recyclable waste the next, but the collection days vary depending on where you live."

Residents on the streets of Bournemouth yesterday were sceptical about any changes. Jackie Povey, 59, of Carberry Avenue, said: "At the moment it is working quite well with the two-weekly recycling collection and the other rubbish collected every week.

"I think if the other rubbish was collected every two weeks that would be a retrograde step."

Rod Ellis, 67, of Saxonbury Road, Tuckton, said: "Council tax has not gone down but if this happens the council would be reducing the service."

East Dorset collects refuse weekly in black sacks. A spokeswoman said there were no proposals to change this.

A North Dorset District Council spokesman said it had a weekly collection for most households but had introduced a once a fortnight collection to 6,000 households in Gillingham as a pilot scheme.

"If we had the funding available to use we would go to fortnightly collections with increased recycling and composting schemes," he said.

Weekly collections of household refuse and recyclables will continue until at least 2008 in Christchurch after the borough council postponed extending a pilot fortnightly wheelie bin scheme.

New Forest District Council continues to collect household refuse weekly using plastic sacks, but the service will be reviewed if recycling fails increased to meet government targets.