Bradford Council's recycling chief has vowed to try harder after complaints that recycling schemes are a mess.

Concerns were raised following the authority's bid to recycle more waste even though many residents claim existing collections are not being completed.

Bradford must recycle more than a quarter of all its rubbish, an extra 22,000 tonnes, this year. And in a bid to meet that target a paper, glass and can collection programme is to be expanded to 140,000 households and a green waste scheme is to be trialled.

The new Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme means Bradford could be fined if it dumps more than it should at landfill, and Council tax payers are likely to foot the bill.

One resident anxious about the Council's ability to meet its responsibilities is John Keighley, 67, of Eccleshill, who has two months' worth of newspapers piling up.

A collection failed to show on Wednesday, and when he complained he was told it would be there on Thursday. Mr Keighley put his bin out at 8.20am yesterday only to find they had already collected.

Faced with yet another month's wait, he said: "Out of the four days for collection this year only one has been met on the day they said they would.

"I think recycling is a good idea, they say that if we don't do it our council taxes are going to increase ... The Council are going to collect from 140,000 homes so if they cannot get the paper right how will they get this right?"

Richard Wixey, Bradford's head of environmental services, said: "We are aware of the fact that we have missed a number of collections as we have been rolling the recycling schemes out. We unreservedly apologise to residents and we are trying to put that right.

"We have been working very hard, we had a recycling rate of around 17 per cent last year. We now have additional resources allocated so we are putting new infrastructure in and are conscious of the need to get it right. We have a clear plan to get to the 25 per cent target as well as applying European strategies for the long term."

Mr Wixey said: "This is about us managing the process properly, that is one of the reasons we have recommended a trial - so we learn from the experience."