EASTLEIGH Council's Cabinet has rubbished a plea to drop a charge being levied on Chandler's Ford residents taking part in a pilot scheme to collect garden waste.

Some councillors were left open-mouthed when recycling champion Councillor Louise Bloom - who holds the executive environment portfolio - said if it was up to her, residents would pay a fee to have their domestic refuse collected.

Members of the Conservative-dominated Chandler's Ford and Hiltingbury Local Area Committee voted to recommend to the Liberal-Democrat controlled council executive that a £14 annual charge for reusable garden waste bags should be scrapped.

In a scheme being piloted in the Chandler's Ford area, residents can pay £12 plus VAT for each reusable green waste bag issued and the contents are collected on a specified day each week to be recycled into soil conditioner.

The trial scheme in Chandler's Ford replaces the council's current green plastic sack collection service which costs £1.20 per bag with the waste going to landfill.

While welcoming the new scheme, local area committee chairman Godfrey Olson and vice-chairman Colin Davidovitz argued the pilot scheme was being funded by the government.

It was a retrograde step, they said, to introduce a charge for kerbside collection - which could prove a disincentive for recycling because the more they recycled the more they would be charged.

Cllr Davidovitz said: "What we should be doing is encouraging people to actually take part in recycling. The way to do it is to say this is a core service we provide and it is something you pay through your rates."

But Cllr Bloom accused the Tories of "mischief-making" saying eight out of 12 neighbouring authorities charged for collecting garden waste which, in many cases, went to landfill.

She said: "As part of the funding, the government requires detailed feedback which includes attitudes towards a chargeable service."

Executive councillors rejected the call to drop the charges but after the meeting Cllr Davidovitz told the Daily Echo: "I was taken aback by the way we were scolded by Councillor Bloom.

"Not only did we get a good telling off for presenting our committee's request, but she added to our woes by telling us that she was also considering a move to introduce charges for the regular fortnightly collections of household waste."

Cllr Bloom said, at present, it would be illegal to levy a general refuse collection charge but added: "I'm all for waste minimisation. In a lot of countries this is how they do refuse collection and in many cases people pay less."