People living in Dover district throw away one of the lowest amounts of waste in Britain.

District council officials have thanked residents after the latest figures revealed the area has the third lowest level of household waste per head in the country.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the total waste per head for Dover district for 2012/13 was 280.94kg. Only the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets (256.12) and Ealing (280.30) were better than Dover.

The statistics also show that Dover has the fourth largest decrease in household waste per head - residual waste and not recycling - down by 15% from 2011/12 to 2012/13.

Cllr Nicholas Kenton, the council’s cabinet member for environment, waste and planning, said: “This is excellent news, and we would like to say a big thank you to all householders who have been taking the time to reduce, reuse and recycle.

“Residents are reducing the amount of household waste they are throwing away, and this is great news for the environment. We look forward to continuing to work with residents to keep up this great record, and to continue to recycle for the future.”

People in the district are still only recycling,re-using or composting less than half of their rubbish however, at 45%.

For more information on recycling and the waste collection scheme in Dover District, visit www.dover.gov.uk