In some areas of the county figures have increased by about 6% in just 12 months.

The figures are revealed in a report to the Devon Authorities Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee.

It shows that people living in the Devon County Council area recycled 33% of their rubbish this year, compared with 27% last year.

The committee report describes it as a tremendous result and puts it down to the response to the Don't let Devon Go To Waste campaign.

In Plymouth there has also been progress with the recycling rate now at 16.5%.

The city has made progress on increasing the amount of paper, card and plastics recycled while in Torbay households are recycling nearly 22% of rubbish.