So she was fuming when she found the bags still in place later in the day, with a note attached to them saying they could not be moved because they were too heavy for the crews to shift.

Petite Mia Cousins, who measures only five foot five inches tall, had managed to carry the bags 50 yards from her back garden to the front of her home.

But now she has been told that the collective might of three loaders and a driver on the green collection run were not prepared to put their health at risk by putting the sacks on to their lorry.

Fareham Borough Council has defended their actions, saying the crew were acting within their rights laid down by Health and Safety Executive rules on excessive manual handling risks.

But Mrs Cousins said: 'I'm incensed by this. If I can carry them then so should they. Binmen are supposed to be quite strong, they're supposed to pick things up. They wouldn't be able to do their job if they were skinny or weedy.'

The 41-year-old widow left the two garden waste sacks outside her home in Catisfield Road, Fareham, where they should have been collected by the council bin crew last Wednesday.

When she came home later that evening Mrs Cousins was astonished to find the bags had been left with a red tag from the binmen saying the bags exceeded 45 pounds and it contained soil including turf.

But Mrs Cousins, who works as head of retail for clothing company Warehouse, insists there was no soil in the bags.

She said: 'Everyone is encouraged to go green and recycle but they put up so many obstacles to stop you. Like most people I pay my council tax for services and I expect the council to keep its part of the bargain.

'I work in the service industry and if I don't deliver customers will quickly complain. The council should expect the same.'

Fareham council spokeswoman Sue Mills said: 'In the case in question the crew took the decision that the sacks were too heavy to lift and exercised their discretion.
'On that day the crew, comprising a driver and three loaders lifted a total of 14.1 tons of garden waste.'