RECYCLING rates achieved by councils across the south have risen for the fourth year running - but campaigners say the figures are still too low.

The amount of household waste recycled by local authorities in the region rose by 1.7 percentage points last year to 46.2 per cent - the biggest increase in the country.

But many councils in the region are failing to meet a national target of 50 per cent.

In Hampshire the best performing local authority was the county council, which achieved a recycling rate of 41.6 per cent.

It was followed by Eastleigh Borough Council (40.7 per cent), Winchester City Council (34.2 per cent) and Fareham Borough Council (33.2 per cent).

Test Valley achieved a figure of 33 per cent, putting it just ahead of New Forest District Council (31 per cent). Southampton City Council, which introduced fortnightly bin collections earlier this year, recycled 28.2 per cent of household waste in 2016.

The worst performing local authority in the county was Gosport Borough Council, which achieved a figure of just 22 per cent.

Commenting on the newly-released government figures a Friends of the Earth spokesman said: "Reducing the amount of waste is the most important thing we can do.

"We're consuming the world’s resources at an alarming rate and then either throwing them into holes in the ground or burning them."

David Palmer-Jones, chief executive of SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK, said household recycling rates in England rose by just 0.6 per cent last year.

He called for a new national strategy that viewed waste products as raw materials for manufacturing and as an energy resource.

A Southampton City Council spokesman said Southampton’s recycling rate was similar or better than that of comparable cities in south east such as Portsmouth and Brighton.

He added: "We are working hard to improve our rates.

"We are currently running our Twelve Recycling Rewards of Christmas scheme in which we incentivise recycling by offering a prize of £50 prize for residents who put the right items in the right bin.

"Mixed plastic banks will be put in place at a number of sites across the city at the end of January.

"This will enable all residents to be able to recycle pots, tubs, cartons and tetrapaks until the material recovery facilities are able to take them.

"We’ve also seen a promising increase in recycling rates since introducing alternate weekly collections earlier this year. We expect to see this improvement reflected in official figures which are published next year.

Colin Read, executive head of operations at New Forest District Council, said the authority was committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.

He added: "We continue to spread the recycling message so our residents know what to recycle, what happens to it and how to reduce their rubbish.

"We will also continue to look at opportunities to increase the range of materials that can be recycled to help increase the recycling rate.”

Gosport Borough Council said residents would be provided with a 240-litre wheelie bin for their green waste instead of smaller plastic sacks.