HYNDBURN residents face £100 fines for what a council is labelling 'bin sins'.

But the borough's MP has described the penalties as a 'bullying tactic', while council bosses said they had to take the 'last resort' to improve recycling rates.

Anyone who puts bin bags outside their black wheelie bin on collection day faces a £100 fine.

In addition, residents who fail to bring their bin back onto their property after it has been emptied also face the penalty.

The powers have been available to councils across the country for some time.

But until now Hyndburn has not made much use of them.

However, bosses said they now needed to get tough in a bid to encourage people to recycle more.

Council chiefs believe that overflowing bags are a sign of families who do not separate their waste into the boxes for glass, paper and plastic.

Hyndburn is around two per cent off its 40 per cent Government recycling target.

In future councils face large fines for not hitting the mark.

The borough's MP Graham Jones said the threats would actually encourage fly-tipping.

Mr Jones said: “£100 is too harsh a penalty for a working family who may have just forgotten to bring the bin back in.

“If you’re somebody who never recycles but everything fits in your grey bin, this measure won’t affect you.

"However, if you recycle all the time but one month have a bit more waste than usual, or forget about the bin in as you’re going away, you get this huge fine.

"It’s too much money to charge people for very minor bin sins.

“It is a bullying tactic.

"We would do far better to look into the reasons why some people aren’t recycling and implement more of a reward scheme for those who do.”

The council has sent leaflets to residents warning of the fines.

Council leader Peter Britcliffe said some areas of the borough had very low recycling rates which 'could not continue'.

He said: "I have had one complaint about this scheme but many more congratulating me for finally tackling this problem.

"Nobody wants to bring in campaigns like these.

"It is a last resort, but it will benefit those tax payers who recycle responsibly”.