THE future of door-to-door rent collections in the Caerpilly county borough is still hanging in the balance.

Axing the entire service was recommended by officers at Caerphilly council's cabinet meeting - a drastic step that followed an attack on a rent collector earlier this year. But members deferred making a decision on the service, and instead, asked for an urgent health and safety report to be drawn up.

That will be discussed by the cabinet again, and at a meeting of the full council, as soon as possible.

Councillor Darren Jones (pictured) called for the report but said everything possible should be done to ensure the safety of the rent collectors.

The rent collectors themselves have said that they are willing to continue providing the service.

Councillor Colin Mann said the collectors should be consulted, to find the safest way of carrying on the service.

"I am sure that they have views on this," he said. "This is not a straightforward situation, and you could argue in either direction on which way we want to go.

"The service is greatly valued by our tenants, and our staff are willing to carry on providing the service in spite of this incident." And Councillor Allan Prit-chard said it was necessary to "protect the workforce up to the maximum".

"The rent collectors themselves are happy to continue," he added. Officers were recommending that instead of the door-to-door collections, tenants should be issued with swipe cards that would allow them to pay at post offices.

A report to the cabinet acknowledged the move would not be popular with many tenants, and said: "The attack on the rent collector was the first such incident in over 30 years, and it was important not to over-react.

"However, it is not possible to safeguard the collectors against personal attacks, and this must not be lost sight of."