Fortnightly bin collections for household rubbish will be spread across Oxfordshire within two years, it emerged last night.

Council bosses at local authorities in the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire have agreed to a combined scheme of collecting general waste and recycling on alternate weeks.

And yesterday West Oxfordshire District Council announced it would also change its general rubbish collections to every two weeks - meaning all Oxfordshire districts will have fortnightly collections of one sort or another by 2010.

The Vale, South Oxfordshire and West Oxfordshire will have weekly food waste collections, however, and West Oxfordshire will have weekly recycling.

David Dodds, cabinet member for environmental services at South Oxfordshire District Council, said people would have to get used to the changes.

He said: "We have to radically reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill as space is rapidly running out and we face large penalties from the Government if we don't."

Local authorities insist the move is to encourage people to recycle and cut costs.

Father-of-three Mark Allinson, 33, of Broadway, Didcot, said: "I'm not impressed. I heard about some of the problems they have in other places with pests. It's not welcome at all as far as I'm concerned."

The changes have courted controversy around the country and residents in Oxford have voiced their concerns about the system.

Eric Murray, of Bridge Street, Oxford, and co-founder of pressure group Collect Refuse in Oxford Weekly (CROW), said the city's fortnightly collection system was not working.

He said: "Most of the city is a mess, it is filthy and it's a disgrace. If you leave the rubbish in the back garden for two weeks, it stinks."

However, Jean Fooks, a Lib Dem city councillor who was criticised over Oxford's new waste collection system, said: "Fortnightly collections are a good idea because they make people think more about what they can recycle."

The new schemes in South Oxfordshire, West Oxfordshire and the Vale are expected to be rolled out in June 2009 and autumn 2010.

Barry Norton, leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said: "It's inevitable that things have to change.

"The system we have is not good enough to avoid the penalties coming into force. We need to recycle more and help the environment."

Jenny Hannaby, a Vale district councillor and executive member for waste procurement, said: "To make storing rubbish and recycling easier, we will be introducing wheeled bins which will also reduce the risk of waste littering the streets when it's windy."

Leslie Gillham, 77, of Berry Croft, Abingdon, said: "The very thought of it - with waste staying so long, rotting and decaying. It's going to cause all sorts of problems."