Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott has apologised to those who responded to the consultation on the collection of garden waste.

The council launched a consultation in late October to look at options for the collection of garden waste but has now conceded that the questions did not reflect the financial situation the council now faces.

Residents may now be charged for the collection of garden waste after the option was put forward as part of the council's budget proposals.

Coun Scott said: “I want to apologise to everyone who took the time to respond to the consultation and that the questions that were asked did not reflect the financial situation that we now face.

“It is unfortunate that we need to propose charging for garden waste collections; particularly after we consulted with people about changes to this service last year.

"The reality is we now know that the budget situation is more challenging than when we carried out the consultation.

"Our key priorities are to continue to protect those who are most vulnerable, boost the local economy and improve the services that are most important to our local communities; such as roads maintenance."

Charging for this service will bring the council in line with some neighbouring local authorities that already charge to collect garden waste from residents’ homes.

Charges for the fortnightly-collection are likely to be around £40 per year; equivalent to 77p per week.

This option has been put forward as part of the council’s budget proposals following the recent announcement from central government that the council’s funding will be cut more than expected this year.

The budget will be discussed by councillors later this month.

Coun Scott said: "I hope that people will understand that we have some really tough choices to make and that making proposals for savings are never easy. This is the reality of local government in the present climate and we have to look at every opportunity to make savings and generate income.

“I would urge people to help by ensuring that they continue to reduce their waste and recycle more.”

The proposal to charge will help the council to find £30m of savings over the next 12 months.

Last year Wiltshire Council received £119m from the Government, this year it will get £103.8m.

The cut of more than £15m, combined with the rise in demand for some of our key front line services and inflation costs, means £30m of savings need to be found.

Proposals for finding these savings are being unveiled at a series of public meetings on the challenge that the council faces, and will be discussed and agreed at a full council meeting on February 24.