Angry residents say they are planning to send their garden waste bins back after all but one Kent council hiked the price of the service.

Twelve authorities have increased the cost of the optional ‘brown bin’ service for the new financial year, which sees people pay a rolling annual subscription for a fortnightly collection.

Medway Council is still offering the collection free of charge on a weekly basis, but has introduced new additional fees for extra pick-ups going beyond the basic allowance.

However, the charges have risen by an average of £3.99 across the 12 other areas, with Thanet remaining the most expensive at £70, followed by Tunbridge and Wells at £66.

Neighbours in Tonbridge and Malling (TMBC) have seen the biggest jump though from £53 to £63.

Sittingbourne's Debbie Pettit, 61, says Swale Borough Council’s (SBC) new charge of £62 - up from £59 - will lead her to cancel her existing contract altogether.

"We are sending ours back," the Charlotte Street resident said.

"It's easier to take it down the tip, so we have one at the minute which we are not going to renew when it ends soon.

"It seems a lot of money-making so I'm not sure why it isn't included in our council tax.

"Everything has gone up so it's going to be one of the things we're going to have to knock on the head."

When asked why it has hiked its fees, a spokesman for TMBC said the hike was a “difficult decision”.

"This fee adjustment will allow us to maintain the same number of collections while covering rising operational costs and our charges remain competitive and in line with other Kent councils at a rate of £2.42 per kerbside collection,” they said.

"We understand the value residents place on regular, convenient collections and believe this increase will ensure we continue to meet their expectations."

Six councils - Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, Maidstone and Thanet - continue to charge people for both the collection service and the bin itself.

Those in the Canterbury district are charged the most for a bin at £71.38.

Every authority provides 240-litre bins, except for Folkestone and Hythe which offers 180 litres.

Becci Duffus, who lives with her family in Keycol Hill near Bobbing, outside Sittingbourne, was one of thousands of people to suffer from last year’s Suez bin fiasco.

Low recruitment, staff sickness and vehicle breakdowns were among a catalogue of problems which led to rubbish piling up and bins going unemptied for weeks across Sittingbourne, Sheppey, Ashford, Faversham and Maidstone.

Ms Duffus says the chaos of that time and the rising costs will not lead her to pay for garden waste collection.

“We don't have a brown bin as we tend to use the tip,” she said.

"But I wouldn't pay £62. I'd use the service if it were free as it should be included in our council tax anyway.

"Maybe we'd pay £10 but that's it.”

Irene Milton, of Kennington in Ashford, recently paid £124 for two garden bins, but says that was “the last time”.

"When I had four bins it was about £30 each so I paid the same for those as I do for two now,” she said.

"The tip is useful if you can get there and get the stuff in your car, but of course that would lead to more cars on the road.”

Mersham’s Stephen Hussey, of South Stour Road, acknowledges the costs are increasing, but says they are not enough to put him off paying for the service.

He said: "I think it's worth paying the money as we have quite a big garden so it's quite handy getting an awful lot of waste in one.

"I assume everything nowadays is going to go up anyway, so I can't really moan.

"It's just worth its weight in gold getting rid of all the grass you cut, so to get rid of that is really helpful and it saves you time too.

"It would cost us more in petrol to go to and from the tip where we'd have to go near Junction 9 of the M20, so with the costs it takes to run a car now £62 is nothing.

"I can imagine if it got to £80 to £90 a lot more people would be re-thinking it though.”

A spokesman for Ashford Borough Council (ABC) - which upped its fee by the smallest amount in Kent - said the increase “covers the cost of inflation and running the service”.

"As garden waste collection is a discretionary service - not funded by council tax - the cost must be covered by those who choose to use it,” they said.

“The fee ensures we can continue to provide a reliable and efficient service for residents who opt in.”

A Swale Borough Council spokesperson added: “We understand that not all residents will choose to use the service, and there are other options such as composting garden cuttings at home, which is the most environmentally sensitive option.

“Residents may also choose to drop it off at their local household recycling centre instead, as garden waste cannot be placed in the general refuse bins.

“Unfortunately, the costs of collecting residents’ garden waste increases annually, but we always try to keep our charges to a minimum.”