A CASH-STRAPPED council will start charging for green waste collection come September due to mounting financial pressures.

Residents in Tilehurst, Calcot and other West Berkshire areas will be charged £50 per green waste bin.

Reading Borough Council introduced a similar scheme last year and now West Berkshire Council has followed suit.

Hilary Cole, executive member for waste services, said: "Like all local authorities, West Berkshire has been affected by reductions in central government funding which means that increasingly, we need to charge for some non-statutory services such as garden waste collections.

"We consulted with our residents and it was clear that garden waste collection is valued. Therefore, we are giving resident the choice of paying a £50 fee in order to retain the service.”

Until now, green waste collection in West Berkshire was free of charge.

Letters will be sent out to residents warning them of the change in policy.

A council spokesman added: "West Berkshire Council has collected garden waste without residents being asked to pay extra for it.

"However, with mounting financial pressures, the council cannot afford to keep doing so without asking residents to pay a separate charge.

" Therefore, West Berkshire must now follow in the footsteps of many other authorities and introduce a charge for the service."

The last garden waste collection for residents who choose not to subscribe to the service will be either w/c August 20 or w/c August 27 according to the usual collection schedule.

Residents who do not subscribe have been urged to continue to make use of their green bin to recycle their food waste.

Meanwhile, those who decide to pay for the service will receive a sticker within 14 days.

Garden waste can continue to be taken to the household waste recycling centres in Padworth and Newbury free of charge.