Mandy Gregory is charging people to remove rubbish

Mandy Gregory, from Donnington, Shropshire, is charging people for the removal and disposal of rubbish.

Telford and Wrekin council now has a fortnightly service for general rubbish, to encourage more recycling.

Ms Gregory said: "That is inadequate, and I have plenty of customers on my round."

With the help of a �2,000 Prince's Trust grant, she bought her own �8,000 Dennis lorry and is charging residents �3 a week to take away two sacks of rubbish.

'Heavy targets'

The borough council introduced its alternate collections system last year to meet environmental landfill targets.

It collects normal household refuse from grey bins one week, and recyclables in green bags the next.

Council spokeswoman Kate Bond said: "We are aware of Mandy Gregory and that she will do her own bin collections.

"From our point of view, we have got some really heavy recycling targets we have to make.

"People are getting a great deal of advice to show them how to recycle properly and we have to ensure they are recycling to the maximum.

"People have to understand how serious we are taking recycling and we consider initiatives like this really do undermine what we are trying to do.