Families have been thanked by council bosses for playing their part in stopping rubbish from ending up in landfill.

New statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) revealed how much household waste local councils sent off for recycling, reuse or composting.

The top performing authority in Norfolk was Broadland District Council, where 48.9pc of household waste was recycled, although that was a slight dip compared to last year's 50pc tally.

John Fisher, portfolio holder for environmental excellence at Broadland District Council, said: 'Thanks are due to our residents who take the time and trouble to manage their household waste.

'At Broadland we have seen waste as a resource for many years and keeping waste out of landfill is very much the day job for our environmental services staff.

'However, these achievements would not be possible without the commitment and co-operation of our residents, who have taken the message: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle on board and who take responsibility for sorting their rubbish.'

Norwich City Council improved its recycling rate, from 38pc to 40.6pc, although that was still below the authority's target of 45pc, while South Norfolk Council's also went up, from 40pc to 41.1pc.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council was the poorest performer in Norfolk, but did manage to up the percentage of household waste being recycled or re-used slightly – from 26pc to 26.6pc.

Breckland Council's performance dipped from 41pc to 37.5pc, while North Norfolk District Council's also fell, from 45pc to 42.8pc.

West Norfolk Council improved from 38pc to 38.2pc, while Waveney District Council dropped slightly from 52pc to 51.1pc.