THE number of people signing up for a garden waste service has exceeded council targets.

Bradford Council has started charging £35 a year for its previously free brown bin service, as it tries to make millions of pounds of savings.

So far, 32,191 people have opted to take up the service, which is 2,191 above the council’s target for sign-ups.

This includes 2,355 residents who signed up after the service began on June 1.

Officers had been working on the basis that only a third of the 90,000 households who had the free collection would be willing to pay for it, after taking a look at what happened when similar fees were introduced in other local authorities.

The figures were released after a request by Councillor David Warburton (Lab, Wyke).