Residents brand varying garden waste charges as 'not fair'

Depending on where you live, gardeners are charged different rates for collecting rubbish. In Fareham, residents are provided a service for free.

However, in Portsmouth there is an annual charge of £45 and in Havant and Gosport you can expect to pay around £60 a year.

In some areas, houses on the same road can fall under different local councils. Pat and Paul Browning, both 73, from Portchester are charged, while residents further down their road are not.

Pat said: 'I'd like a bag for our garden waste.

'We're in the same road as people who get green bags for waste, but because we come under a different area, we don't get green bags.'

Paul added: 'It's not really fair, we all pay our council tax.'

Pat Pickard, 71, from Portchester, agreed. She said: 'It's not a fair system.

'I wouldn't like to be in their area. They're still paying their council tax, the same as us.'

Some were concerned that the service wasn't comprehensive enough. Maureen Allen, 84, from Portchester said 'The general waste of some gardens is a lot I feel that the council should collect more.'

She added: 'I would pay if it's a reasonable amount, like a £10 a year.'

But Sam Paul from Hayling Island had concerns the costs could lead to fly-tipping. She said: 'I think people are going to dump items where you don't want it to be dumped, so it's going to cost more to collect.

'People pay quite high rates in areas and we're getting less and less for our money.'