Green bin charges to increase for Blackpool residents

The council says the decision has been made to reflect inflation, the cost of running the service and the fact it has not been reviewed for two years.

Collecting green waste is not a statutory service and charges were first introduced in 2016 when people had to pay an annual subscription of £25 which went up to £30 after the first year.

It was then hiked up to £35 two years ago.

The latest increase comes as housholders are facing an expected increase of four per cent in their council tax as well.

A council report says: "It is proposed that this charge is introduced for the financial year 2020/2021 as the rate has been held constant with no uplift for the previous two years, since 2018."

Around 10,000 residents pay annually for green bin collections which is a participation rate of around 18 per cent.

The scheme is expected to generate revenue of £370,000 in the current financial year, up from £259,000 in its first year.

In 2016 the cost of running the service was said to be just over £100,000, with income also contributing towards running the council's full waste service.

The report says people who do not subscribe to the service can take their green waste " to their local household waste recycling centre or consider home composting which has the least environmental impact as it stops unnecessary transportation of materials."