A DIRECT debit system could be introduced to address a ‘discriminatory’ charge facing residents over the garden waste collection service.

The fortnightly service costs £32, with residents who sign up receiving an identification sticker to make sure their waste is collected.

But if you pay for the service over the phone or at Contact Warrington it costs £35.

It is the third year the Labour-run council has charged for the collection and the price has gone up by £1 each time.

But concerns have been raised over there being no direct debit system in place for residents paying for the service.

During Monday’s full council meeting, Cllr Ian Marks (LD – Lymm North and Thelwall) urged the authority to introduce it.

The former council leader said: “Last year, I expressed concerns about discriminating against people who cannot renew their green bin collection online by charging an extra £3.

“We don’t like this, particularly as it sometimes hurts our more vulnerable residents.”

But Labour’s Cllr Hitesh Patel, executive board member for personnel and communications, said he finds it distasteful when people ‘bandy about’ the word discrimination.

He added: “In Warrington, we do give our residents a fair deal compared to some of the Liberal Democrat councils.”

However, council leader Cllr Russ Bowden has vowed to address the issue.

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He said: “Direct debit is something we didn’t focus on initially in order to get the scheme introduced

“We do want people to be in a position where they are accessing services online and using technology and, therefore, it is not all coming through face to face contact with the council.

“I think, in principle, we could introduce a direct debit scheme – there were some technicalities around that when we introduced green bin charging.

“That is something I will commit to addressing in the coming year.”