IT'S D-Day for Herefordshire Council's controversial plan to privatise rubbish collection.

Cabinet is expected to approve the move when it meets this afternoon. Members are due to receive a confidential report on the outcome of negotiations with the preferred bidder FOCSA Services (UK) Ltd.

A petition against the proposal has so far collected a total of 2,300 names.

Unions are balloting their member calling for industrial action.

Both Unison and the GMB are calling on council to re-evaluate a tender by the authority's in-house contract team Herefordshire Commercial Services.

This, however, seems unlikely following a recent meeting of union representatives, councillors and council officers, including chief executive Neil Pringle.

Herefordshire Unison secretary Eddie Clark said the outcome offered little real hope of any alternative other than accepting the FOCSA tender.

As such, he said, the authority had been served with formal notice of a ballot for industrial action, with a 'Day of Protest' the favoured option.