More than 200 homes are signing up to Brent Council’s garden waste collection each day.

Changes to Brent Council’s waste and recycling services mean that collections from residents’ green bins have now ceased and have been replaced by a new food waste container.

Households who want to continue to have their garden waste collected from their green bin now need to pay £40, with 9,000 households signing up for the service so far.

Chris Whyte, operational director for community services, said: “The warmer, brighter days at this time of year bring a sudden surge in growth in grass, trees and bushes and similarly, we have seen a sudden growth in demand from residents looking to sign up for the garden waste service, with around 200-households-a-day opting-in.

“We want to make life as easy as possible for Brent residents and so it is common sense therefore to delay collection of unwanted green bins until June, to provide some flexibility to residents who may decide to change their minds and subscribe to the service at short notice.”

The surge in sign-ups comes as a petition continues to be circulated against a similar charge initiated by Harrow Council.