Local residents who wish to receive fortnightly garden waste collections still have time to apply for their garden waste licence.

Currently 16,000 homes in the district sign up to receive the service each year which is delivered by Biffa on behalf of the Forest of Dean District Council.

Councillor Marrilyn Smart, Cabinet Member for the Environment at the Forest of Dean District Council, said: "The garden waste service is extremely popular, with almost a half of all households in the district using the scheme.

"We would like to remind residents that the yellow licences expired on 31 March.

"In order for garden waste collections to continue after this date, green wheeled bins will need to display the new 2016/17 licence.

"The plastic tag licences can take up to a fortnight to be received.

"While householders can apply at any point during the year we would recommend that residents act soon to avoid any interruption to their service and to ensure that they receive the maximum benefit from the scheme.’

Garden waste is collected each fortnight from the kerbside with most households receiving their collection on the alternate week to their refuse collection.

The service enables residents to easily dispose of their excess garden waste including: lawn cuttings, hedge and tree prunings, leaves, garden plants and even small amounts of herbivore pet bedding just so long it is made from compostable materials such as wood shavings and straw.

The collected waste is then treated at Rose Hill Farm in Dymock where it is used to make a soil conditioner.

The cost for a licence has been held at £28.00 per bin per annum for the third year running.

Licences can be purchased online by visiting www.fdean.gov.uk/go/gardenwaste. Alternatively, residents can call the Council’s customer services team on 01594 810000 during office hours and pay over the phone using a debit or credit card.*

Residents who are new to the service and also need a green wheeled bin should call the customer services team and place their bin order at the same time as buying their licence. The green wheeled bins are provided free of charge.

Householders are not permitted to dispose of their garden waste in the black landfill bin.

*Payments made using a credit card incur a surcharge of 1.6% (the equivalent of 45p per licence). There is no surcharge for debit card payments.