But once it was delivered free of charge from Germany his council refused to empty it because he had bought it from an unofficial source.

Determined that his local authority should get rid of his green waste, Mr Fowler, 47, took the bin to a gypsy camp – and to his amazement, the council collected it without hesitation.

Yesterday radio station director Mr Fowler said: “This is complete double standards and profiteering by the council.

They were charging £60 for one of their bins, which I thought was a bit steep, so I bought one on the internet for £29, including delivery.

“But then I got a letter in the post saying that binmen would not collect it because it did not have a South Cambridgeshire District Council logo on it.”