DIY enthusiasts are finding that dumping on the cheap is costing them a whole lot more.

Getting rid of DIY waste used to cost nothing. But now Oxfordshire County Council has started charging - £31 per tonne PLUS VAT.

The council noticed a large increase in home improvement waste and introduced the fee in an effort to minimise budget cuts.

Contractors and businesses have always paid a fee to empty skips at tips but private individuals had managed to get away without charge - until now.

While it currently remains free to dump household waste, bricks, concrete, wood and all the leftovers from home improvement will incur cost.

The waste is measured on a weighbridge and paid for by the tonne.

But Gordon Lyall, of New Yatt, near Witney, said people were being turned away from Dix Pit, at Stanton Harcourt, on a recent visit, because the weighbridge was not open.

He now fears people will start dumping in hedgerows.

He said: "If you change a door, dig up a garden path or change a kitchen you have to start paying for it now.

"If you're willing to pay, it's no use turning up on Sunday or Saturday afternoons after 4.30pm as you can't use the weighbridge.

"That's when people work on their gardens or houses.

"Some are going to take it home and go back when they can but others will just tip it in the hedgerows - that's what used to happen."

Andrew Woolcock, waste management group manager at Oxfordshire County Council, said they had noticed a large increase in landfill waste over the last 12 months. He said it may be because it was costing more to hire skips since the landfill tax went up.

Mr Woolcock said: "A significant proportion of the increase is down to construction and demolition waste.

"It's probably due to the introduction of the landfill tax."

He added: "They would normally hire a skip but the cost of hire has gone up to reflect the cost of the tax on disposal."

A big rise in Government tax on the burying of waste in gravel pits and landfill sites means the county council, which is already on a tight budget, is being stretched even more.

The Government imposes a £10 per tonne tax on waste going into landfill dumps in 1996 and now that has been hiked up to £10 per tonne.

Mr Woolcock said the council had the choice of cutting back on rubbish or key services such as libraries and education.

Getting rid of the 250,000 tonnes of waste produced by Oxfordshire households each year is already becoming a huge drain on council resources without the construction waste.

He said: "People are trying to take it on to civic sites with a trailer or van but it's not household waste.

"We are advising people they are not going to be able to continue bringing this sort of waste in and we have introduced tighter controls.

"The county council does not have the budget to do this free of charge. We can provide only a basic service."

Mr Woolcock said people had two options - hiring a skip or paying at the site at a minimum cost of £7.75 +VAT.

Grass cuttings were allowed but it would be better if people put them on their own compost heap.

Local councils also sell special composting bins at reduced prices.

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