A DYING woman has been told she must still pay for a years’ worth of garden waste collections, despite the fact she has just weeks to live.

Barbara Waters asked Wiltshire Council if she could pay a reduced fee to have her green bin collected for the next two or three months, but said she was told she must pay the full £48.

The 77-year-old, who has lung cancer, has been told she cannot have any more treatment and was told in April that she had just three to four months left to live.

“Why should I spend a full 12 months when I only have a few months left?” she asked. “I don’t think it’s good enough.”

Barbara, of Chine Road, Upper Woodford, said she asked the council to make an allowance and was “so angry” when she found out it would not be possible.

“I have lived here for 12 years now, I have always kept my garden beautiful and this is how they repay you.

“All they want is your money.”

It comes a week after an investigation by BBC One’s Rip Off Britain revealed that more than half of UK councils, including Wiltshire, have introduced the charges to collect garden waste.

The service, which recycles bark, cut flowers, grass cuttings, hedge clippings, leaves and more, was previously covered through council tax payments.

The total charges for green waste collection have risen from £42.3m in 2014-15 to £56.9m in 2015-16, the data showed.

And in 2016-17, the charges hit a total of £73.9m.

In Wiltshire you have the option of paying a full £48 if you order your green bin from April to July, £36 from August to October, £24 from November to January and just £12 if you pay in February.

But Barbara was told she could not pay the reduced fee that would be available to her if she were to pay later in the year.

After the Journal got in touch with Wiltshire Council, they backtracked and offered Barbara the opportunity to pay three months at a time.

Barbara said: “They have woken up at last.

“They were very, very sorry about the ‘mix up’ and they have agreed to let me pay three months.

“We shouldn’t have to do things like this, it is a slight on people like myself and others who are in a similar situation.”

As the Journal went to print on Wednesday, a spokesman for Wiltshire Council said: “We have spoken with Ms Waters to apologise for any distress caused, and have agreed a reduced rate with her.”