A new multi-million pound waste and recycling contract will be awarded by the council this week.

Dartford's current contract with Amey LG is set to expire in June and it is not in the running for the new five-year contract, which will start in July.

The local authority collects around 46,000 bins a week.

Two potential partners, FFC Environment and Urbaser, will be considered for the £4 million contract which will be discussed by the cabinet at a meeting on Thursday.

Current services in the contract include weekly and fortnightly collections of recycling, garden waste, household waste and medical waste.

The council has also confirmed they IT will not be following other councils' decision to cut the frequency of bin collections in the area.

Speaking ahead of the cabinet decision, Cllr Jeremy Kite (Con) said: “Waste collection is one of those services people sometimes love to hate but the numbers involved and the performance levels we reach tell a different story.

“We are one of only two councils in Kent still collecting general household waste every week and that’s hugely important to us because we know it’s what residents want.

“Frankly, I am outraged that there are some councils out there that think it’s OK to collect waste just once a month and when you hear from residents about the despair it causes you do wonder why so many authorities have simply stopped listening to the taxpayers who pay for the service.

“Here in Dartford we take the step of holding a Big Bin Vote to ask local people how they want their service delivered.

“We are completely up-front with people about how the frequency of collections is linked to recycling rates and we ask them to decide what they want. Other councils might do things differently but we take the view that the people who pay for the service should have a voice.”

The council's current contract partners are “rethinking their own business model in the country”, according to Cllr Kite.

He added: “They won’t be our contractor going forward but they deserve thanks for the service they have provided over the years and I know that their great waste crews are likely to continue to support our new partner.

“But, it’s time to move on and there are some really important enhancements we wanted to see that will further improve the weekly collections, offer new services and provide more information to residents.

“We are also keen to involve our new contractor in more aspects of our wider work to keep communities clean.

“I’m delighted to say that a number of contractors really understood our determination to put service and common-sense at the heart of the service and we are now in a position to decide between two excellent potential partners.

“Once the decision is taken we will introduce them and their new services to local residents.”