FLINTSHIRE residents feel 'discriminated' against following an increase in brown bin charge.

The Leader previously reported that members of Flintshire Council's corporate resources committee voted in favour of the rise from £30 to £35 from spring next year - or £32 for those who pay the charge early or online.

Sandra Morris, of Shotton, said she is outraged over the decision and many pensioners will be left 'struggling' to find the extra funds.

She said: "I have supported the council since it started but the thing I'm so annoyed about is that I don't have access to the internet and I know a lot of old people don't.

"It's wrong. A lot of young people don't have access to the internet either and a lot of disabled people rely on ringing up to deal with most of their issues.

"I understand how things have to go up but everyone should pay the same.

"I'm not going to do it and I know a lot of other people who won't be paying it. It's the principle, people without internet shouldn't have to pay more, it should be the same money across the board.

"I don't have access to the internet so I feel I'm being discriminated."

The price rise will not come into effect until March next year so any applications made before March 1 will see a set price of £32.

The £35 charge will apply to telephone orders after the date.

Ms Morris added: "There's a lot of people in situations where they are struggling to get by.

"I won't give my bank details online, it's the way we were brought up so why should I pay more?

"£5 to a lot of pensioners is a lot of money. There's a lot of people that are just living on a basic pension. It's not fair.

"It's going to cause a lot of fly tipping. People are going to spend more time chucking their rubbish outside. We already have a problem in Shotton, I don't understand how people can do things but the thing is, we will see more of it because of this. It's appalling living in Shotton as it is.

"I don't know where this extra money is going because nothing has improved in my area. Where is the money going? Services aren't getting any better."

Residents currently have to pay an annual fee of £30 to have their brown bins collected after Flintshire Council stopped offering the service for free in April 2018.

Steve Jones Flintshire County Council’s Chief Officer for Streetscene and Transportation, said: "The new charge is £32 for a season-long service if the payment is arranged on line or, in the case of telephone requests, if the order is processed before 1 March 2020.

"The £35 charge will only apply to late telephone orders for the service, which are received after 1 March 2020.

"The service quality has remained unchanged since the introduction of the chargeable service and the service has, in fact, been extended into December to coincide with the weekly residual waste collection service which is provided over the Christmas period."

Councillor Carolyn Thomas told the Leader that due to cuts from UK Government, the council must continue to look at what services they can cut that are not mandatory.

She said payments can also be made via the Connects Office from October 1 until the end of February and online services can also be accessed via the Aura mobile library.

Cllr Thomas added: "It is cheaper to administer transactions that are made on line than by telephone and this is reflected as we would like those that have the facilities.

"There will be a leaflet going out with the calendar in the next few weeks explaining the charges.

"The Council does not have to collect it but it is still valued and equates to £1.55 per collection, so we are continuing to provide it as a service. If residents do not want to pay the charge, they can take it themselves to one of our Household Recycling Centres where they can also collect the composted product free of charge.

"They can also compost at home should they have space. It was explained at the call in that should residents not buy in the service, there will be a round review and residents may have garden waste collected on a different day."