People across the Canterbury City Council district will be treated to a "Rolls Royce" bin collection service when the city council cuts ties with Serco, it has been claimed.

The authority is poised to dump the under-fire firm when its £43 million contract expires in January 2021 and plans to form a new Local Authority Trading Company (LATCo) to carry out the work.

Cllr Jenny Samper (Con) hopes the district's residents - just 40% of whom say they are "fairly or very dissatisfied" with Serco - can soon benefit from a top quality service.

Under-fire contractor Serco failed to meet bin collection targets - despite the council making them three times easier to hit.

After the firm’s woeful performance in 2017, the authority increased the number of missed collections it allows from 23 to 75 in every 100,000, as well as pumping an extra £140,000 a year into the service.

But a new performance review revealed Serco was still falling short of the standards expected, despite some improvements.

And three binmen found themselves in hot water in May last year after footage emerged of them appearing to mix recycling and leaving rubbish strewn across the pavement.

Angry resident Leopold Slayter, 61, captured the refuse collectors “throwing bins around” outside his home, and apparently combining the waste he and his neighbours had taken the time to sort.

One of the workers - a full-time Serco employee - resigned during a disciplinary process, while the other two agency workers are no longer used by the firm.

Watch the bin men leave rubbish strewn across a pavement

Speaking at a policy and resources committee meeting, which saw members green-light further preparations to create a LATCo, Cllr Samper said: "We have had difficulties in maintaining the Rolls Royce standard that this council has been wanting to do and trying to do over the years.

"If we have the opportunity to reverse this trend, it must be advantageous."

Cllr Rosemary Doyle (Con) also favours the new approach - citing its flexibility as plus for all involved.

But Labour leader Cllr Alan Baldock, who says ditching Serco after almost 30 years will be a "massive" change for the district, questions if the council ever has or will offer a premium waste disposal service.

He said: "Did we ever have a Rolls Royce service?

"There isn't detail as to how this can be better than what we already have. Before going into this, the council should have decided what they exactly wanted.

"With this, we're a very long way from getting to that high standard.

"Creating this LATCo is like gambling with ourselves. This new company could go in its own direction and potentially cause problems for us.

"The whole idea is a positive thought but we need to take control of the contract ourselves and take it properly in-house."

An objective the LATCo will aim to hit will be the EU's heightened recycling rates of 55% by 2025 and 65% by 2035.

As it stands, Canterbury's recycling figure stands a long way off at 44%.

Despite Brexit, it is expected the legislation will be brought into UK law via the EU Withdrawal Bill.

With one abstention, 10 councillors voted in favour of forging ahead with the LATCo bin firm.

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