CHARGES for a green waste bin have increase by 25 per cent since being introduced four years ago.

In 2015 it cost £40 a year to have a bin collected once a fortnight but it now costs £50 a year for the 160l bin.

They are collected fortnightly for grass cuttings and garden waste.

However some people have pointed out that new bins issued by the council are smaller than older 240-litre bins from the days of district council, but still cost the same.

Bradford on Avon man Andrew Dyer was stumped after ordering a second bin for his garden rubbish, only to find it 25 per cent smaller than the one he has used for years.

He said: “I think it is another stealth tax that if people paid £50 for a 240-litre bin they shouldn’t then have to pay £50 for a 160-litre bin.

“I understand that the black bins are now smaller to encourage people to recycle more but this seems like a way to get more money for less.

“There must be lots of people who don’t want the larger bins anymore and they should be given to people who do want them by the council.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said that the unitary authority has not reduced its bin sizes since 2010, but that some larger bins issued by district councils were still being used.

Commenting on the recent increase from £48 to £50, introduced in April, a Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “We have a good take-up of the service and currently 81,000 households use it. All garden waste is composted locally with people able to put bark, grass cuttings, cut flowers, weeds, leaves, and small branches in the bins. The charge helps cover the cost of collections and the slight increase reflects that.”