Erewash Borough Council has thanked local people after more than 14,000 households signed up to take advantage of its early bird deal to continue getting their garden waste bins emptied.
The authority is having to copy other councils by bringing in a charge to keep the service going from 1 April – when green-fingered residents can opt to pay £32 a year.
But a cut-price deal that was launched just weeks ago slashes the cost to £20 for those signing up online before midnight on 31 March.
There are also big discounts for people registering additional bins – which means the total number of subscriptions has topped 15,500.
The offer is only available online via a My Erewash account. People can also pay for the brown bins of family and friends to continue being emptied. Support is being offered to those who may need help signing up online.
Councillor Joel Bryan, who is Erewash’s Lead Member for Environment, said:
“We are not happy about having to bring in any kind of charge – and we are grateful for the support of residents over something that many of them understand has been forced on us by severe funding pressures. We’ve kept the brown bin charge lower than many other councils – and with the early bird deal people can get more than a third off. Thankyou to all those who have signed up so far. We urge others who want to make a big saving to hurry and copy them.”