A ground-breaking ceremony has taken place to officially start work on a new rubbish-sorting plant.

The waste treatment centre at Cotesbach, near Lutterworth, is due to open in spring of next year, using the latest technology to sift the maximum amount of recyclable materials from household rubbish.

As the work began, Leicestershire County Council leader David Parsons dug up the first the first sod of soil at the site.

He said: "I'm pleased to start work on this scheme, which will divert rubbish from landfill, cut our landfill tax bills and reduce the impact of Leicestershire's waste on the environment."

The mechanical and biological treatment plant is being built at the existing landfill site run by waste company Lafarge. The Cotesbach plant will use new technology that has been proven to work in Dorset and Kent.

It will sort rubbish mechanically to remove recyclables such as metals, before using a biological process to compost biodegradable waste.

Special filters will be used to eliminate smells and the whole site will be screened off from nearby homes.

Each year it will process at least 40,000 tonnes of rubbish, collected by district councils.