JUST three weeks into Test Valley Borough Council's new garden waste, green sack collection service and the council has had to introduce a waiting list due to an unprecedented demand.

More than 11,500 sacks have been distributed within the borough and supplies are running out fast.

Councillor Tony Jackson, environment portfolio holder at Test Valley said: "Based on the experience of other councils that have introduced this system, we thought our original target of 5,000 sacks for the launch was challenging but realistic."

"We have placed an urgent order for 5,000 more sacks, but they will take a little while to arrive."

The council has recognised that it may take a few weeks before new sacks will arrive, so people on the waiting list will be charged the new quarterly rates that come into effect from 1 July of £15 for the first sack and £8 for the second.

Anyone joining the service from July will also pay the reduced rates, as the cost of joining goes down each quarter throughout the year until December to reflect the number of months of service received.

Cllr Jackson added: "This remarkable level of demand underlines what we always knew - Test Valley residents are not only well aware of recycling issues, they are also willing and able to play their part in reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill sites."