An East Renfrewshire man has branded the council’s controversial new brown bin collection policy as “rubbish”.

Peter Scott, 78, said staff refused to empty his garden waste, even though he bought the required £40 permit.

The new charge was introduced by East Renfrewshire Council this month, with residents having to cough up if they want their green refuse to be removed.

Anyone who doesn’t have a permit attached to their brown bin can’t have it emptied.

The council said there had been a “technical issue” over the permits.

Mr Scott said he waited almost six weeks to receive his permit through the post.

He applied and paid for the document on June 11 but it didn’t arrive until July 19.

In the meantime, the part-time law lecturer had to photocopy the online receipt and attach it to his bin.

Despite this, refuse staff failed to empty the container on July 13, which is his normal collection day.

They attached a yellow sticker to the bin, telling him to contact the council to pay for an uplift.

Mr Scott told the Barrhead News: “Anytime I phoned the council about my permit, I was told that all the lines were busy and to please call back. It was maddening.

“I applied for a permit online on June 11 but it did not arrive until Monday of this week

“I taped a copy of the payment receipt to the bin last week, explaining the position, but it wasn’t emptied. Any emails I sent were just ignored.”

Mr Scott said he was told by council staff that the local authority is having to put on special collections for householders who haven’t had their permit through the post.

They have also had to hire two people to process the applications manually.

“To me, the system has failed,” said Mr Scott, of Newton Mearns. “I keep a nice garden and live in a nice area and we need regular garden refuse collections to keep it that way.

“There is also a communal grassy area I share with other owners which generates more green waste. Our brown bin is always full, so we need our weekly uplifts.

“This new permit system appears to be costing East Renfrewshire Council more money than it’s saving.”

In the past, brown bin collections had been free of charge but council chiefs have said money raised through the new charge will help to protect frontline services, such as street cleaning.

Councils have a statutory duty to collect household rubbish but this does not include garden waste.

Residents who do not need their brown bin emptied are still be able to use it for food waste.

The £40 permit includes collection of Christmas trees.

An East Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “There was a technical issue which affected the processing of a number of garden waste permits. The issue has since been resolved and we are working to ensure anyone affected receives their permit. 

“If any resident’s brown bin collection is impacted by this, it can be reported as missed and our teams will return to empty the bin. 

“Anyone who has been waiting more than 10 working days for their permit can email the team direct at garden.waste@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk.”