NEARLY half the households which had second green bins have returned them and a technical “glich” has prevented others from paying to keep theirs.

By the end of last week, 3,650 homes out of 8,500 had opted out of paying Huntingdonshire District Council’s new £40 charge for collecting garden waste in additional wheelie bins.

And the authority has apologised to anyone who found they could not pay the charge via Pay Point in shops after a barcode error.

Among them was Tony Dutton, of Weir Road, Hemingford Grey, who said he was frustrated to discover he was unable to pay the bill which he resented paying anyway. “I rather reluctantly went to the village shop and tried to pay the £40 but it did not work,” he said. “I didn’t want to pay this money and now they’re making this difficult.

“I rang HDC and they said they could provide a second invoice. I wanted an invoice that works.”

An HDC spokesman said the error had been resolved but it was not known how many people had been affected.

She continued: “Due to a software ‘glich’ that did not become apparent during testing, some barcodes on invoices issued on June 3 and June 6 would not scan when customers tried to pay at Pay Point outlets, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

“The problem has now been resolved and later invoices are correct but any customers who find they still cannot make a payment at a Pay Point are advised to contact our customer services centre to organise a replacement invoice.”

INFORMATION: Payments can also be made at HDC’s Customer Service Centres, online at www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk or call 01480 388640.