GARDENERS will have to pay to get their cuttings taken away. Kirklees Council looks set to abolish its free garden waste collection service to raise money and plans to charge householders £1 per bin bag or ‘tied manageable bundle of similar size’ with a minimum collection charge of £5 per visit, paid in advance.

The ever phlegmatic Aliban wrote: “More cuts and more charges from Kirklees. Never mind, it’s a nice day to sit in a garden. Bring on the ice cream.”

Bigmac saw problems with the soon-to-be-paid-for service: “Look around. Plenty of people won’t even phone up to use the free service and just dump their garden waste on grass verges. This will be even more evident if this charge comes in.

“I am sure every council taxpayer in Kirklees could suggest cuts which would have no noticeable effect, but Kirklees decides rather than asks. They employ experts at a huge fee to tell them this.

“Come on, our elected representatives – look a bit closer to home for your cuts starting with town hall running costs. Never a shortage of money there – or it looks that way to everyone I speak to.”

Bobby_hudds admitted infringing Kirklees Council guidelines on bin use: “Stop whining and just pay up if you are using the service. I am actually surprised it is still free.

“Personally I just put mine in the grey bin ... as I suspect many, many people do.”