Opposition councillors have warned Camden Council against any plans to save money by changing residents’ rubbish collection from weekly to fortnightly, claiming it will lead to more urban foxes, pigeons and rats on the streets.

Conservative members urged the Labour-led council on Monday to back a motion that would protect weekly collections of general refuse from a proposed £3million cut to the borough’s street cleaning and waste collection service.

Cllr Andrew Mennear, conservative representative for Frognal and Fitzjohns, said: “Camden, until recently, had two weekly refuse collections. It is a crowded inner-city borough. It’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity. It’s not always the case, for example, for residents to keep lots of used disposable nappies in their premises for two weeks. If these are left on the streets, it can lead to urban foxes, pigeons and rats.”

The motion was, however, dismissed by the Labour-led administration.

Cllr Roger Robinson, the Labour representative for St Pancras and Somers Town, suggested a fortnightly collection was necessary to save money and increase recycling rates.

He said: “Thanks to this government, we’ve had to face a public funding cut of £70million.

“We can’t go on as we have. It’s also a scandal that 70 per cent of what we throw away could be recycled.”

Further work is expected to take place on how the £3million cuts will be carried out.

In March 2012, Haringey saw its own general refuse collection go from weekly to fortnightly.

Recycling refuse is still collected once a week and since the changes the council says residents’ recycling rates have risen “significantly”. It has, however, seen many residents complain of overflowing bins cluttering the streets and being infested with maggots.