WHO would have thought that there was almost one tonne of shoes hidden away in the back of wardrobes in Skipton never to be worn again?

Everything from platforms to knee high boots have been pulled from the depths of cupboards and put into the shoe recycling bins dotted around the town.

In a three month trial, 892 kilos of shoes have been collected ready to be recycled by the European Recycling Company.

The shoe recycling bins were put alongside bins in Coach Street car park, Morrisons, Tescos and the High Street car park to see if people would use them.

Head of Operations at Craven District Council Greg Robinson said he was pleasantly surprised by the amount that had been collected and he hoped the successful scheme could be extended into North Craven.

The shoes are transported out of this country to prevent them filling landfill sites and shipped to a sorting depot.

The vast majority of the shoes can be used again and are distributed to third world countries and others are shredded and the materials reused.

Mike Lee from the recycling company said the initiative had been going on for about five years.

He told the Herald: "We have all got shoes in our wardrobes that we would not wear again," he said, and added that anyone who wanted to donate their old shoes should pair them and put them in a carrier bag so that they were easier to sort.

This recycling scheme is part of Craven District Council's commitment to the national Waste Strategy 2000.

The council is aiming to double its recycling levels from nine per cent to 18.8 per cent. The feasibility of collecting other recyclable materials is being examined.

It has already established links with local community groups such as LA21 Bentham Group and these are used exchange ideas to promote recycling and composting initiatives.

The full impact of the strategy has yet to be determined but issues like kerbside collection of recyclable materials will be considered.