Dawn inspections to check the contents of green wheelie bins re being carried out in Watford.

The tough new check-ups were introduced by Watford Borough Council a fortnight ago after figures revealed a quarter of all green waste put out by Watford residents is not being recycled due to contamination.

On average five lorry loads of kitchen and garden waste are rejected every week because some residents leave non-compostable rubbish such as plastic, polystyrene or treated wood in their green bins.

If too many non-recyclable items are emptied into a collection lorry, then the entire load becomes contaminated and is rejected at recycling depots.

Between October and December last year a total of 290 tonnes, or 58 lorry loads, of collected kitchen and garden waste was rejected out of 1,337 tonnes.

Contaminated loads are instead sent to landfill sites.

The council is warning that green wheelie bins found to contain unwanted rubbish will no longer be picked up.

The council's team has been carrying out dawn inspections prior to weekly collections for the past two weeks, poking through green wheelie bins and flagging up hundreds to be ignored by pick-up crews.

Stephen Windmill, waste adviser for the council, said: "You wouldn't believe what some people leave in their bins.

"We've found lawn mowers, garden hoses, watering cans, Wellington boots, plant pots, footballs - anything found in the garden really."

Last Monday a total of 94 bins were not collected and left by the road, while on Wednesday a further 48 bins were flagged up to be ignored by crews.

Houses found to have put unwanted waste in their green bin have been recorded and risk having their wheelie bin confiscated if they continue to ignore the council's recycling guidelines.

Stephen said: "There are two types of people.

"There are those who have genuinely made a mistake and then there are those who have deliberately put two or three bags of rubbish at the bottom and tried to cover it up with cardboard.

"It doesn't take many bins to contaminate a whole lorry and in the end it costs everybody money through Council Tax.

"We are just trying to get over the message that it has to be organic and compostable and if you are unsure then don't put it in the green wheelie bin."

Mayor Dorothy Thornhill added: "Our crews are finding the same contamination over and over again.

"If bins are found to be contaminated, they will not be emptied and it will be the residents' responsibility to remove any contamination before the next collection date."

She added that the council would consider removing the service from those residents who do not comply.