A pioneering community recycling scheme has been sunk after thieves stole its van and dumped it in a river.

The Communities Using Resources Better (CURB) project, which collects items from 1,500 homes in Heaton each week, has been running for just over a year.

But volunteers say they were not able to find further funding and the final straw came when thieves stole their van and pushed it into a lake.

CURB worker Jab Roman said: "I'm very disappointed and also quite angry that it has come to this. The most painful thing is the service was well used and there was a real demand for it. I'm disappointed that we couldn't find further funding to keep us going but we were running on a loss.

"We're telling everyone that our last collections will be tomorrow and Thursday of this week.

"Residents have been very disappointed and upset with the news. We just want to let people know that we've put in our best effort.

"We haven't been sitting back waiting for money to come in but doing our best to find funding. The final straw was the van being stolen last month and it was the first time we didn't run our collection. Unfortunately, the insurance money will not be enough to get another van up and running."

The group carried out a year-long survey, funded by the Bradford Environmental Action Trust (BEAT), to study the collection scheme.

The survey revealed that 72 per cent of residents used the non-profit making scheme, more than 80 per cent of Heaton's rubbish could be recycled and composted, and the recycling rate was 21 per cent - compared with eight per cent for the rest of the Bradford district.

"We should be expanding instead of withdrawing altogether,'' he added.

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