Tory-run Fareham borough council’s spokeswoman Sue Mills said: “The crew took the decision that the sacks were too heavy to lift and exercised their discretion. On that day, the crew lifted a total of 14.1 tons of garden waste.” The council has increased funding to employ extra binmen on its fortnightly garden waste rounds to limit the average weight lifted to five tons per dustman per day.

The move was sparked by a Health and Safety Executive review last summer which revealed that each binman lugged up to 10 tons of waste per round.

The dustmen had complained about the amount of garden waste bags they had to pick up. All other rubbish is put in wheelie bins which do not have to be lifted.

Doretta Cocks, of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, said: “It is a pity Health and Safety rules are not applied to residents who are increasingly having to lift heavy bags and crates to the kerbside.

“When a kerbside glass collection only occurs once a month the crate can be extremely heavy – the same applies to crates of paper. 

“Is there any point in introducing garden waste schemes if the  collectors cannot lift the bags?”

In recent months, beleaguered householders have been hit with a barrage of bin penalties. 

They can be fined up to £1,000 for offences including putting out their bin at the wrong time, putting waste in the wrong bin, leaving rubbish beside a bin, failing to close the lid properly on their bin, or leaving their bin in the wrong place.