COTSWOLD residents are being encouraged by the council to sign up to its weekly garden waste service, which re-starts in April.

It’s the tenth year of the service and Cotswold District Council (CDC) is urging existing subscribers to sign up again while hoping even more householders will follow suit.

The service starts on Monday, April 3, and everyone who participates will help contribute to the council’s 60 per cent recycling and composting rate – the best in Gloucestershire.

Subscribers to the service for 2017-18 will pay £30 for a licence, enabling them to put garden waste in a green wheelie bin which is emptied every week by crews from Ubico Ltd, the Council’s waste service provider.

Residents paying the fee will also be able to empty their unwanted food waste into the green bin.

Additional licences can be purchased for a further £30.

Alternatively, those who cannot accommodate a green wheeled bin at their property, can purchase 50 compostable brown paper garden waste bags for £30 – available from the council’s Trinity Road offices or at the Moreton Area Centre.

The waste bags will then be picked up weekly.

Residents who receive Council Tax or Housing Benefit are entitled to a 50 per cent discount on the price of a green waste licence.

Cllr Sue Coakley, CDC cabinet member for the environment, said: “People in the Cotswolds take a real pride in the district and this is borne out by their positive attitude towards recycling.

“The green waste service has always been very well-supported and it would be excellent if even more residents could sign up this year.

“We have frozen the price at £30 yet again and this is really good value for money.”

All the food and green waste collected in the Cotswolds is converted to over 242,000 bags of soil enhancer every year, say the council.

Garden and food waste, collected through the green bin scheme, is composted on a farm in the north west of the county, and is used to manufacture commercially available soil enhancer.

To sign up for this service, visit cotswold.gov.uk or contact the CDC’s waste hotline on 01285 623123.