A DECISION by Forest of Dean district councillors to introduce a charge for collecting garden waste is likely to end in more illegal tipping, it was claimed this week.

An opponent of the £26 a year bill says those who cannot dispose of garden waste on their own premises will join the "black plastic bag brigade" and dump them in lay-bys and gateways leading into the Forest.

"It's pretty obvious what is going to happen. People are just not going to pay an extra bill and inevitably that means there will be those who dump their waste in the knowledge that it will eventually get cleaned up anyway," he said.

The new charged-for service starts after April 2 and replaces the current service which was introduced in 2003 with funding from Defra.

Council staff will also hold "information roadshows".

In a press release district councillor Martin Quaile said: "Many residents value the convenience of the kerbside service. While we would still advocate that home composting is the best solution environmentally for dealing with most waste produced in the garden, the kerbside service enables householders to dispose of their excess waste or waste that isn't easily composted that might otherwise have ended up in landfill."

Last year Biffa collected 8,000 tonnes of garden waste.