Eric Pickles is thinking of throwing his weight behind thrice daily collections of household bins, LocalGov can reveal.

After piling pressure on local authorities to pick up wheelie bins once every seven days during his reign as communities secretary, Mr Pickles is now thought to be mulling over measures that would accelerate his bin drive even further.

Plans would leave town halls scrabbling to collect recyclables, garden waste and general rubbish in the morning, at midday and even after sunset.

Waste experts predicted such measures would raise staff numbers in the industry to historic levels and could see cash-strapped local authorities almost entirely manned by bin-men.

One source close to the industry and unashamed to spout rubbish said the plan could logically develop into rubbish collectors ‘hovering outside homes around mealtimes’ in a bid to take waste ‘straight from the plate’.