A NEW garden waste collection service has broken even within four months of getting off the ground.

The service now has 2,114 residents signed up and is paying for itself. Tendring Council launched the scheme in Clacton, then Frinton and Walton, before extending it to the entire district.

Environment boss Nick Turner is delighted with its success.

“No-one had to take this up and we have reached a point already that even if we do not sign up any other households this year, the service will be provided at nil cost to the council,”

he said.

The two-year pilot project offers fortnightly collections of garden rubbish collected from wheelie bins.

There is an initial one-off charge of £25 – to include the delivery of the wheelie bin – and a £50 annual subscription.

The scheme is designed to increase the amount of waste recycled and reduce landfill.