Garden bin fee makes £620k more than expected

The introduction of a fees for garden waste bin collections fee has generated £620,000 more than a local authority had expected.

Westmorland and Furness Council introduced the £60 charge on 1 April. In the scheme's first six months, about 42,000 subscriptions were bought which amounted to some 10,000 more than expected.

These extra purchases meant income from the scheme stood at £2.5m and was 32% higher than expected.

Liberal Democrat councillor Adrian Waite said cash from the garden waste scheme covered costs.

Waite said the authority expected the number of people using the service to continue to grow with increased awareness.

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