The brown bins are now to be chargeable for households to have collected

Nearly 15,000 households have signed up to a new charge for having your garden waste collected.

A brown bin charge is being levied by Preston City Council in what it claims is an unavoidable step to try and balance its books.

The scheme, which comes into force from Monday 4 July, costs £25-a-year to have the brown bin collected by the city council.

It had been a free service but Preston’s Labour-run council said it was not something they had to provide, so decided to charge for it to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for the city council.

Any Prestonians who haven’t signed up will not have their brown bin collected from Monday.

So far 14,554 have done so – raising around £291,000 for the council – as it had a discounted £20 rate for early-bird sign ups. Full price it is to be £30-per-year from next year. This means only one third of homes with an existing brown bin have decided to pay the charge.

Related: Why storm clouds remain over Preston Council’s financial position

Cabint member for resources councillor Martyn Rawlinson said: “Charging for the collection of garden waste is just one of a range of difficult decisions we’ve had to make in order to help reduce costs, due to ongoing government budget cuts.

“However, I would urge our residents to support the council and sign up to this scheme. The fee equates to just £1.35 per collection, and is a convenient way to manage your garden waste.”

Council leader Peter Rankin and councillor Robert Boswell were the first two people to sign up to the scheme

Food waste can no longer be put in brown bins and garden waste can be taken to the tip. Or the council is encouraging people to compost their garden waste.

If you wish to sign up, registration is via the city council website.

Have you paid the charge? Are you opting out? Let us know in the comments below