A CUMBRIAN council leader has defended the way a waste recycling contract was awarded and has insisted that the correct procedures were followed throughout.

It follows revelations in the current issue of Private Eye magazine relating to the launch by Cumberland Council earlier this month of a new doorstep recycling collection initiative which was awarded to Cumbria Recycling Ltd (CRL) and is run by council leader Mark Fryer.

According to the article, when the magazine approached the council's press office for comment it was claimed there was no official response and they were told to submit a freedom of information (FOI) request instead.

Speaking exclusively to the Local Democracy Reporting Service cllr Fryer said he was initially approached by the former Cumbria County Council and he was not a councillor with that authority at the time.

The project has received £62,744 from Material Focus, a not-for-profit body that funds and encourages electrical recycling, and Mr Fryer said: "Yes, it is not council money."

Cllr Fryer said they had followed the correct procedure and he had stepped back from any dealing with the council. He added: "For me, as the council leader, absolutely, I have played no part. I have had no discussions with anybody.

"It has been dealt with by members of the management team at CRL. When I was elected [onto Cumberland Council] I wrote them a letter to say that I would not be involved in the day to day running of the company with either Cumbria Waste Management, which was at the time owned by the council, and the council themselves because that would be inappropriate."

He said he had self-referred the matter so it can be properly investigated. "I think it's appropriate because I think it's important that it's out in the open," he said.

"I have asked that it be referred to a scrutiny committee. They have got nothing to hide."

Earlier this month the council announced that from February 5, the mobile Recycling Rambler van will visit communities in West Cumbria to collect small electrical items – anything with a plug, cable or batteries. They will then be sorted, reused or recycled.

The new mobile service collects from locations in Egremont, Cleator Moor, Frizington, Millom, Seascale and Whitehaven. The van will park up at named points at specific times, to allow residents to bring along their small electricals to have them safely recycled.

The scheme is being run as a six-month trial in the area formerly covered by Copeland Borough Council.