TOR2, the firm in charge of collecting refuse and recycling in Torbay, has unveiled its fleet of new lorries.

The 20 dark green multi-compartment trucks will be used from next week to pick up plastic, metal, tins, glass, textiles, paper and cardboard from all residents in The Bay.

Bosses at the company, which will employ 84 staff, said it was a learning curve for both Tor2 and residents, and confirmed the call centre of "waste doctors" has been swamped with 1,000 calls a day.

Steve Bryant, Tor2's operational manager, said: "We ask people to be patient with us. It is a new system.

"We'll be learning as much as the community will.

"We need service users to get on board with us and provide us with constructive feedback so we can improve our service."

From next Monday residents in the three towns will have to sort out their rubbish and recyclables into the various boxes, food waste bins, seagull-proof sacks and wheeled bins.

The two-man lorries, which can carry some four tonnes of rubbish, will do 600 homes each a day.

Mr Bryant said: "It is a lot more work but the crews will get used to it. They will have to work it out.

"I expect the first weeks to be very busy as many people will have stockpiled their newspapers, bottles and cans."

Mr Bryant said many of the answers to customers' questions were contained in the leaflets residents had received through their letter box, but insisted Tor2 specialists were happy to visit anyone with technical queries.

He said: "I know we all make mistakes, but if residents put the wrong rubbish in the wrong bins we will not pick it up.

"It will be left behind. It is a learning process for everyone."

Under the new system food waste will be collected and put in anaerobic digestion processors in Holsworthy and later next year at Langage.

It will help produce methane gas and energy as well as natural fertiliser.

While many people have complained about the new system as being impractical or cumbersome, others said May Gurney, the main partner in the Tor2 company, should recycle even more.

One Preston resident, who declined to be named, said: "It will be a step backward if they can't take plastic bottle caps, food trays and other things which are recyclable but can't be because May Gurney doesn't have the facilities.

"The capacity to recycle should have been paramount when May Gurney was given the contract.

"They should make sure more is recycled in the future or people won't bother, and everything will end in landfill which is a step backward."

Mr Bryant admitted not everything could be recycled at present but hoped that it would in the future.

Torbay's recycling rate is expected to rise to 40 per cent by next year and save the authority and residents some £1million a year.

Tor2's team of waste doctors are available for home visits during the month to help with further queries.

If you require such a visit, telephone the Tor2 call centre on 01803 207900.