COUNCIL chiefs have been accused of undermining their own garden waste collection service - after advertising a CHEAPER private alternative in their very own magazine.

Four times a year thousands of people in Worcester are mailed out a copy of 'City Life', which typically runs to 36 pages.

The council mag's autumn edition, which goes out to more than 40,000 properties, has been carrying an advert for garden waste collection pick-ups for just £45 a year.

But the city council has its own taxpayer-funded garden waste service costing £64, which includes a one-off £10 "registration fee".

Astonishingly, the business owner offering the private collections has also told the Worcester News he was even handed a discount to place the advert in the council's magazine.

All the advertising in City Life is done by an external agency based near Preston in Lancashire, which has to try and fill all the space before each edition is mailed out.

A former Mayor of Worcester says its appearance has made a mockery of the council and "undermined" its service.

Councillor Lucy Hodgson said: "I turned to page 20 of the new edition of City Life and there was an advert for a garden waste collection service.

"That said people can pay £45 a year to get their garden waste collected, so I checked our service and saw that our customers need to pay £54 plus a £10 subscription fee.

"Is this not an example of this administration not monitoring the adverts and allowing a council service to be undermined?"

Councillor Adrian Gregson, the city's leader, says a deal is in place with an outside advertising firm which is able to "retain the revenue" from the magazine.

He added: "The advert does not contravene the standard guidelines."

The private collections are offered by a company called P & D Green Waste Ltd, which is based in Worcester.

A spokesman for the firm said he did not want to comment on the council row, but added that the business picks garden waste up from areas outside the city's boundaries like Kempsey, Fernhill Heath and parts of Herefordshire.

It is also offering 26 fortnightly collections per year for the fee, compared to just 20 by the city council.

The advert boasts of offering city people a "new garden waste collection service" for "only £45 a year", under-cutting the council one.

City Life is one of many controversial 'town hall pravdas' across the country which the Government has criticised in the past for being council publicity sheets.

Ministers have ordered local authorities to print no more than four editions a year, which City Life complies with.

Councillor Gregson added that City Life is published "at no cost to the council" whatsoever under its deal with the advertising company.