Families 'threatened with £2,500 fines' for putting too much rubbish in bins

Families who overload their bins with rubbish are reportedly being threatened with £2,500 fines and criminal convictions.

Councils across the UK are said to have introduced the measures under anti-social behaviour laws, with families also being slapped with fines for putting the bins out too early.

Businesses are also punished with fines of up to £20,000, including small corner shops, according to the Daily Mail.

In Stoke-on-Trent, residents had been receiving forceful letters from the local council warning them on their “unreasonable conduct”, the newspaper reported.

The council warned failure to act could lead to homeowners being issued a Community Protection Notice and landed in court.

Tameside Council in Greater Manchester is among other local councils believed to be using similar sanctions.

Such warnings are usually issued to flytippers and noisy neighbours, but are being sent to more households as councils try to boost recycling rates.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance told the Daily Mail: “It beggars belief that council workers think this is an acceptable way to treat taxpayers.

“One of the main services people expect from their councils is efficient bin collections. They will be rightly shocked to see their money spent on threats of this nature.”

A Stoke-on-Trent City Council spokesman said: “Our aim is to always work with residents, and our approach is to educate and inform. Residents have told us that this issue is a major priority. Our response is proportionate and only escalates if there are continuous problems.

"The escalation is through steps with a warning notice, then issuing a fine of £100 (reduced to £80 if paid within 14 days), if this still doesn’t work, we would issue an enforcement notice, and only after that would we go to court, following government legislation. It is the court that can impose a fine of up to £2,500, not the council.”