Gardeners risk £400 fine for putting one item in their bins during August
UK households are facing potential fines for placing one particular item in their garden bins as new regulations loom. Local councils and authorities are prohibiting soil from green waste containers in preparation for fresh legislation being rolled out by the Labour government next year.
"It's one of the most common mistakes we see," declared a representative from My Home Improvements. "Soil might look natural, but it causes major issues for councils trying to turn garden waste into compost. Even a little bit can ruin a whole batch".
"Garden bins are not a catch-all for anything green. What feels natural to toss may be harmful to the environment, your community, or the composting process," the spokesperson continued. It comes after an expert revealed how to kill lawn weeds overnight without using chemicals
"If you're unsure, always double-check before you throw something away. The five minutes it takes to look it up could save you a £400 fine and a big headache down the line." Households across the UK risk contaminating their refuse collections with soil, experts are cautioning, reports Birmingham Live.
This development follows announced changes set to come into force next year, mandating homes to utilise four separate containers. The fresh regulations are due to commence from March 2026.
The document titled 'Simpler Recycling in England: policy update' states that most residences and businesses will require four receptacles, which could include bags, wheelie bins, or stackable containers.
Alongside soil restrictions, the Government website features guidance entitled"Prevent Japanese knotweed from spreading". The guidance states: "You must dispose of Japanese knotweed waste off-site by transferring it to a disposal facility that's permitted, e.g. a landfill site that has the right environmental permit.
"You must prevent Japanese knotweed on your land from spreading into the wild and causing a nuisance. You could be fined up to £5,000 or be sent to prison for up to 2 years if you allow contaminated soil or plant material from any waste you transfer to spread into the wild."
This indicates that trimming knotweed or excavating it and transporting it to your local household waste centre without the proper environmental permit could result in penalties or imprisonment.
"You must not dispose of Japanese knotweed with other surplus soil or sell soil contaminated with Japanese knotweed as topsoil," the guidance continues.
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Scottish Sun
7 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
How elite WW2 special forces unit the Chindits smashed Japanese supply lines in Burmar ahead of anniversary of VJ Day
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THEY were the lions of the jungle – 10,000 British troops led by an eccentric genius. With their distinctive slouch hats, the Chindits were the highly trained special forces who fought the Japanese, often hundreds of miles behind enemy lines, deep in the steaming, fetid jungles of the Far East. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 8 The Chindits greeting a rescue plane in a picture taken for Life magazine Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 8 Maverick British military leader, Brigadier Orde Wingate Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd 8 Only two British Chindits are left alive, one of whom is Sid Machin Credit: Paul Edwards Next Friday marks the anniversary of VJ Day, when, after six years, World War Two finally ended with the Allied victory over Japan. By the time Japanese Emperor Hirohito officially surrendered on August 15, 1945, the war in Europe had been over for more than three months and the 365,000 British troops fighting in the Far East became known as the 'Forgotten Army', after its operations in the Allies' Burma campaign were largely overlooked by the Press at the time. Today, 80 years after that victory, only two British Chindits are left alive — 104-year-old Charlie Richards and Sid Machin, 101. Sid, of Christchurch, Dorset, will be among nearly three dozen VJ veterans, aged 98 to 105, who will attend a national service of commemoration hosted by the Royal British Legion on August 15. Against the odds The veterans will certainly not be forgotten when they join the King and Queen at the moving ceremony at Staffordshire's National Memorial Arboretum. The royal couple will pay their respects in the Arboretum's Far East corner, which includes a monument to the Chindits. In early 1942 Burma's then capital, Rangoon — now called Yangon — was overrun by Japanese forces intent on pushing north to invade India. A maverick British military leader, Brigadier Orde Wingate, came up with a daring plan to create a multi-national force of lightly equipped men, who would work in small teams hundreds of miles inside enemy territory. Oddball Wingate often gave orders in the nude and sported a straggly beard, supposedly to keep mosquitoes away. When dressed, he ate raw onions which he often kept in the pocket of his filthy uniform, and he would dangle a large alarm clock from his belt to remind his men that time was against them. World War Two veterans come together to mark the 80th anniversary of their victory Wingate named his highly trained troops after the only creature in Buddhism that is permitted to use force — Chinthe, the lion-headed dragon that sits outside every sacred pagoda in Burma, now known as Myanmar. His men, including Major James Lumley, father of actress Joanna, called themselves the Chindits. Flying in by glider, they set up strongholds behind enemy lines from where groups of men would attack the Japanese, often with bayonets drawn, in hand-to-hand combat. A constant stream of transport aircraft brought in supplies that included not just ammo and food but also mules to carry equipment. I have never before listened to anybody who so compelled my attention, who dominated his audience Col Charles Mercer Light ambulance planes would land on remote airstrips hacked out of the jungle to evacuate the wounded, three at a time. Despite early setbacks, the Chindits' bravery and tenacity against the odds raised morale and showed how British soldiers could live and fight in the jungle. They also attracted the attention of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who called Wingate 'a man of genius'. Col Charles Mercer, who died recently aged 105, recalled: 'He was quite a small man, not very military in bearing. "I have never before listened to anybody who so compelled my attention, who dominated his audience. "He was a fearless, inspiring leader.' 8 Sid today, aged 101 Credit: Paul Edwards 8 The Chindits comprised 10,000 British troops led by an eccentric genius Credit: Alamy 8 Wingate's unit adopted a strategy of near silence to avoid alerting the enemy Credit: Alamy Veteran Chindit Charlie, who was 22 when he joined the unit, recalled how, after six months of hard training, Wingate told the men they were 'on the adventure of a lifetime'. But he also warned them: 'Many of you are going to die, or suffer wounds, or near starvation. All of you will meet hardship worse than anything you have imagined.' Charlie and Sid took part in Operation Thursday, when 85 gliders towed by US aircraft took off on a moonlit night in March 1944 to pass over 7,000ft peaks to land 150 miles behind the front line. The Chindits had been ordered to relieve comrades who were holed up in a jungle base codenamed White City, but they came under attack almost every night. Whispers were the order of the day and even this made us a bit nervous and alert to every sound Veteran Charlie Richards So many soldiers on both sides died that the stench of death was overwhelming. Charlie, from Kettering, Northants, recalled: 'The whole place was getting so putrid because of the number of Japanese bodies outside the perimeter that the pilots of incoming planes said they had no need of maps for the last few miles — they could smell their way in.' Wingate's unit adopted a strategy of near silence to avoid alerting the enemy, and Charlie said: 'The rule was, everyone spoke softly, even sergeants. "Whispers were the order of the day and even this made us a bit nervous and alert to every sound.' In our main picture, taken by a wartime photographer from Life magazine, a group of Chindits wave joyfully at their RAF rescue plane but they had been told: 'Cheer, but don't make a sound.' 8 8 The Army's current 77th Brigade badge echoes the Chindits Credit: Handout The casualty rate was still brutal. Of the 400 men in Charlie's column, just 140 were unscathed. The rest were either dead, wounded or struck down by disease. Wingate, who by then was an acting Major General, died in 1944 in a plane crash aged 41. At the time he was carrying a nomination for a Victoria Cross for Chindit Lt George Cairns, who had had his arm hacked off with a sword by a Japanese soldier. Cairns, 30, killed the soldier, picked up the sword and carried on fighting. Just before he died from his wounds he said: 'Have we won? 'Did we do our stuff? Don't worry about me.' Because the nomination was lost in Wingate's plane wreckage it was five years before Cairns was awarded his medal posthumously — the fourth VC given to a Chindit.
Powys County Times
15 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Powys town holds service to mark 80 years since VJ Day
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BBC News
16 hours ago
- BBC News
Middlesbrough caretakers tackling town repair jobs
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