Now even lawn-mowing is taxed, but councils impose new annual charge

WASTE: Fly-tipping in Birmingham and other UK cities[GETTY]

The move by a growing number of local authorities, mainly Labour and Liberal Democrat-controlled, has been condemned by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and public spending watchdogs.

Research by academics at Kent University found nearly half of all households feel garden waste bin collection services are inadequate and this is likely to lead to fly-tipping.

A 35 charge on garden waste collections in Birmingham has resulted in bags of grass and hedge cuttings being dumped at roadsides.

Binmen had to be pulled from their rounds to man privately run rubbish tips as huge queues of frustrated gardeners built up last week.

Police were called to one Birmingham city centre tip as tempers frayed in the mile-long hold-ups.

Resident Janet Griffith, 51, said: I spent about 45 minutes on the first trip to the tip, went home and it has been another 45 minutes on my second trip.

Only about five per cent of the citys 400,000 homes have paid for garden bin collections, casting serious doubt on the ruling Labour groups hopes of saving an estimated 2.5million a year.

Yellow stickers warning of 2,500 fines have been put on abandoned bags of green waste at roadsides but the controversial tax is expected to cause more fly-tipping and a drop in recycling.

A 36 charge for garden waste collections in South Gloucestershire led to 4,200 residents signing a petition presented to Parliament by Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore.

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Now even lawn-mowing is taxed, but councils impose new annual charge