PLANS to introduce a £30 annual charge to empty green garden waste bins have left residents seeing red.

Halton Council is imposing the new fees from June 1 to help tackle budget cuts of £19 million in the coming year.

Incensed residents are threatening to abandon their bins and drive to the tip to dump their own grass cuttings and garden waste.

One angry pensioner said: “I think we pay enough in council tax. I can’t afford any more charges.”

Elizabeth Ainsworth posted: “I’ve got three compost bins so my green bin can go back.”

Halton Council leader Cllr Rob Polhill said: “We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t have such savage cuts.

“We currently collect green waste free of charge from 75 per cent of households which costs the council £330,000 a year.”

Residents paying online will be charged £25.

Halton Cllr Stef Nelson, board member for environmental services, said: “The decision to charge for the garden waste service is not one that we have taken lightly. It is one we have been forced to take, faced with the huge cuts to council budgets of £46 million since 2010.

"The current financial position means that it is simply not possible to maintain the service free of charge.”

He said the council is giving people a choice about how they deal with their garden waste.

He said: “They can request a service and pay the subscription fee to continue to receive collections or they can deposit their waste, free of charge, at either of the two household waste recycling centres provided by the council.

"As we move forward with the scheme, the council will be looking at other options for those householders who do not generate large quantities of garden waste.

"We have tried to keep the costs as low as possible and we believe the service represents good value for money.”

More than 2,000 residents have already subscribed to the scheme.

Stickers will be attached to the bins of people who pay for the service.

Only green bins from properties that have subscribed will be emptied.

The council warns that garden waste must not be placed into black or blue bins.

Collection crews monitor bins and any found containing garden waste will not be emptied.