HOMEOWNERS will soon have to pay a yearly fee if they want to have their green waste collected after the council ruled it was not an eco-friendly service.

Councillors met in Barrow Town Hall on Wednesday for the Executive Committee meeting where, after lots of debate, it was decided using vehicles to collect garden waste was expensive and wasteful.

Vice chairman, Cllr Brendan Sweeney said: "I think it's a totally 'un-green' thing for us to be be doing.

"At the moment we are driving around in diesel cars to collect the waste which could be composted very easily in people's gardens."

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The fine details are yet to be ironed out but it is thought a yearly payment will be introduced for all residents across the borough from next year.

Cllr Dave Pidduck who chaired the meeting also championed the move after researching how areas like Lancaster and Birmingham have dealt with their waste collection.

However, concerns about the proposed changes were met with negativity by some committee members.

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Some councillors expressed concerns that those paying the highest bands of council tax would be forced to pay, more while other members raised fears a price hike would increase fly tipping.

South Lakeland District Council have not had any discussions regarding changes to their waste collections but Cllr David Fletcher, environment portfolio holder said: "I don't think it's something which will be rolled out across the whole area.

"We are looking at a waste economy and green is a part of that.

"If it was losing us money, we wouldn't be doing it."

Mr Fletcher also said food waste was becoming a big priority for SLDC.

No decision have been made in Copeland either. A spokesman said the idea was "not something they would be ruling out."

Barrow councillors also decided that BIFFA would no longer be their contractors and made the recommendation FCC Environmental Services UK would take over the collection operations from next year.

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