Tories on South Glos either didn’t understand how bleak the financial future was going to be – or they did, and they deliberately misled residents.

Tories got elected on a promise of re-introducing universal free green bin collections.

Cllr Claire Young (Westerleigh) said: “We knew the council wouldn’t be able to afford to keep free green bins, so made sure the service was financially viable. The Tories had the same information we did – and they either didn’t understand it, or they decided to mislead the public.

“Their new budget for the next three years is now out – and without a single mention of garden waste collections anywhere in it. They promised to phase out the charge. They swore it wasn’t needed. They can now make whatever service decisions they like – and their flagship policy is nowhere to be seen.

“Every resident with a Tory councillor should ask them: Did they not realise what the figures were like? Or did they just lie to get elected?”