SWINDON Borough Council is raking in just under a million pounds every year from garden waste collection.

Last year the council received £800,000 from the subscription, which covers the cost of collections and pays for the composting of garden waste.

The money is raised through an annual subscription fee of £50, or £2 per collection, for a fortnightly collection.

A Swindon Borough Council Spokesperson said: “Like many local authorities, we are facing huge financial pressures – the Revenue Support Grant from central government is due to fall to zero by 2020. With this in mind, we have little option but to charge people for using the garden waste collection service.

“With 16,000 households subscribing to the service, we consider it excellent value for money. People can be confident that their waste is being disposed of responsibly and it means residents are saved the trouble of going to the tip."

BBC' One's Rip of Britain this week found councils across the UK are charging almost £74m a year, rising from £42.3m in 2014/15