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Concerns have been raised that Bath residents may have to hang onto their dead Christmas trees until the end of January as the council will not be providing a collection service.

Bath and North East Somerset Council has announced that there will be no garden waste collections from December 3 until January 25.

The council added that its paid for fortnightly garden waste collection service will start again on January 28.

It also said that Christmas trees should be taken to its recycling centres or can be put out for collection, free of charge, on garden waste collection days between January 28 and February 8.

According to the Bath Liberal Democrats, in previous years the council has picked up real trees alongside the waste and recycling collections for a couple of weeks after the festive period.

(Image: Getty)

The group said a question tabled to a council cabinet meeting on October 31 said: "Can the cabinet member confirm whether the council will be offering a Christmas tree collection service this year?"

The answer from the council was: "The council is putting in place the following services for residents who wish to dispose of their Christmas trees.

"The three recycling centres will continue to open seven days per week for residents.

"Trees taken to the recycling centres will be recycled and we would encourage residents to use these facilities.

"We have also been in talks with a local charity who run an existing tree collection scheme, and in return for a donation will be offering a limited collection across areas within Somerset, Wiltshire and parts of BANES.

"Details of this charitable collection will be made public once the arrangements are finalised.

"Please note the holiday closure period for the recycling facilities 25/26 December, 1 January."

Lib Dem councillor for Twerton, Tim Ball, said: “Many families choose a traditional, real Christmas tree in the expectation that they will be able to put it out for collection in the New Year – alongside their mince pie boxes and sprout peelings.

“Trees were previously picked up as part of the garden waste collection, which has now been suspended from December to March. The Lib Dems warned back in the spring that this decision would lead to problems.

“Realistically, most people aren’t going to know about this change, so they will still put their trees out.

"It looks as though we’ll have a forest of dead trees cluttering up our streets come January.

“This is yet another example of Conservative cuts hitting the services local people rely on.”

He added: “Bringing back the garden waste collections a month earlier is a partial climb-down by the Conservative Cabinet, and we are glad they are starting to listen.

"However, the fact remains that residents will still be paying the full year’s subscription for 10 months of service.

“It’s also quite impractical to expect residents to hang on to dead Christmas trees until the end of January.

"Most people are still likely to put their trees out for collection early in the New Year, when they take their decorations down. I expect we will still see trees sitting around on the streets for most of January.”

BANES said that the green waste collections across Bath and North East Somerset are set to restart on January 28, five weeks earlier than planned.

The council said it has been able to bring forward the resumption of garden waste collections after making savings in waste disposal - the direct result of an increase in the amount of waste local people are recycling.

Councillor Bob Goodman, cabinet member for Development and Neighbourhoods, said: “While the best way to dispose of garden waste is to compost it at home, we know residents value and make good use of our garden waste service.

"By restarting the service earlier than planned we hope to encourage people to recycle more and prevent unnecessary journeys to our recycling centres.”

Bath Live has contacted BANES for further comment.

For more information, click here.

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