Council's bid to block junk mail; 25,000 WARWICKSHIRE RESIDENTS SIGN UP TO SCHEME.

Byline: ARRYN BUGGINS

WARWICKSHIRE residents receive five million pieces of junk mail a month, and Shire Hall wants people to sign up to stop it and reduce the amount of rubbish.

Warwickshire County Council has teamed up with SITA Environment Trust and Mail Preference Service to try and block the amount of unwanted direct mail through letterboxes.

And the partnership said 25,304 residents have already signed up, with 884 residents in the last month.

The Post Office said the average UK adult receives 4kg of unwanted mail each year. And with 210,000 households in the county, that adds up to 1,400 tonnes of rubbish if every household only receives one item a day.

Sending that amount of waste to landfill would gives the county council an annual bill of pounds 42,000.

Cllr Ken Browne, (Lab, Warwick North) portfolio holder for transport, environment and rural affairs, said: "Unwanted direct mail has no place in anyone's home. If residents are not interested in receiving it, they can stop it.

"This scheme is an easy, free and effective way of getting rid of your unwanted junk mail, and has really started making an impact on reducing waste."

The Mailing Preference Service can remove names from up to 95 per cent of direct mail lists, or even add names for those that want it.

People who sign up should see a difference in the amount of post they receive after a few months.

To register, contact: Mailing Preference Service, FREEPOST 29 (LON20771), London, W1E 0ZT.