A GWYNEDD councillor has accused the county council of charging people twice for the same service.

From January 2017 onwards, people will have to pay an annual £33 fee for the collection of garden waste.

Over the next few weeks, Gwynedd homes will receive a letter through the post explaining the changes.

Cllr John Wynn Jones, Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet member for the environment, said: “Unfortunately, like so much of the public sector, Gwynedd Council has had to look at all services and decide if there are any for which we can charge a fee, so that we can limit the impact of cuts on essential services such as care and education.

One of the services we have decided to start charging a fee for is the garden waste collection."

However, Cllr Steve Churchman, who represents Dolbenmaen and has spent many years campaigning for environmental causes, believes council residents have been hoodwinked into paying for a service that they do not require.

He said: “Gwynedd Council has in recent years encouraged residents to compost garden waste. However, instead of encouraging home composting, the council has encouraged residents to compost through local authority doorstep collections, even providing the bins.

"Now many residents are hooked on this method, they are going to be stung with a £33 yearly bill for the service on top of their council tax. This means they are being charged twice for this service.”

Read the full story in this week’s north editions of the Cambrian News