Sutton Council has pressed ahead with plans to scrap weekly bin collections, prompting claims from opposition councillors that it broke a “promise” to consult residents.

Councillors on Monday voted through proposals to end the current household waste disposal system and recruit a private contractor to carry out collections every fortnight.

New food waste pick-ups will be introduced in Sutton under the scheme, which the Lib Dem council said would encourage recycling.

But Conservative councillors, who opposed the shake-up, claimed the authority had relied on a “misleading” 2012 survey to justify the “fundamental change” instead of carrying out a public consultation.

Cllr Tony Shields, deputy leader of the opposition, said: “They promised to consult in the past, and we have been very clear in that weekly bin collections should stay, but the consultations never materialised.

“Why has there been no consultation? I’ll tell you, because the people don’t want it.

“You really must consult with people on fundamental changes in the borough, and the fact that they didn’t has left me more outraged than I ever have been.”

The South West London Waste Partnership, which comprises of Sutton, Croydon, Merton and Kingston, chose Veoila as its preferred bidder for the contract in May. Merton and Kingston councils each held public consultations about changes to their waste disposal systems that included scrapping weekly bin collections.

In 2014, Sutton Council said its approach would be to “engage with residents... to enhance our understanding of which services are valued”.

In Monday’s meeting, Cllr Jill Whitehead, environment and neighbourhood committee chairwoman, cited a 2012 survey to support the waste collection changes, which she suggested were supported by 72 per cent of people.

The survey’s first question was: “What proportion of residents said they would support the introduction of a food waste service?”

Cllr Shields claimed the use of the survey was “entirely misleading” and did not reflect the views of residents, adding: “When we were canvassing during the Carshalton by-election I would say about 95 per cent of people did not want fortnightly collections.

“The survey is entirely misleading and has nothing to do with fortnightly bin collections. There is no relation to it at all and the questions asked have nothing to do with it whatsoever.”

But a council spokesman today said if the decision was informed by anything other than the South London Waste Partnership - which agreed the criteria - there could be a "legal challenge".

He said: “The evaluation criteria were agreed by the South London Waste Partnership. These were published in advance of the start of the procurement process, in compliance with the regulations for this type of procurement.

"The tenders submitted by all the bidders were based on these criteria. If decisions were informed by anything other than the published evaluation criteria, boroughs would be at risk of legal challenge.”

 “The new service will mean less waste going to landfill, which is good for the environment.

"This new food waste collection service will bring Sutton into line with our neighbouring councils such as Conservative-controlled Kingston and Labour-controlled Croydon."

Veolia is to take over the service in Sutton in April.