Thousands of people have signed a petition against cuts to bin collections in Enfield.

The council announced in February that black household waste bins will be collected every two weeks in a bid to save money in the face of ongoing cuts to funding from central government.

The shake-up, set to take place in spring 2020, will also see the roll-out of weekly food waste rounds and a £65-a-year charge for garden waste collections.

But more than 4,000 people have signed a petition opposing the changes in less than a month.

The petition was set up by Helen Mitchell, who lives on the Lakes Estate in Palmers Green.

Ms Mitchell said: “I am not particularly political, but I feel very angry about the fact that council tax has gone up.

“I am very concerned about what will happen. There is going to be a build-up and back up (of waste). It is not a luxury – it is a necessity.

“I don’t believe that the council cannot go back to the cabinet chamber and make another decision.”

Enfield Council leader Cllr Nesil Caliskan previously warned that failing to make savings from refuse collection could lead to cuts to other services such as adult social care.

But Ms Mitchell called for “real rationalisation about how money is spent”.

She said: “I don’t think they have been very transparent about what other things we would lose

"I do realise social care needs to be taken care of, but I think this was a political decision.

“I know they have had a grant taken away from them for refuse removal, but there should have been a contingency.

“They have said they will be collecting food waste every week – if they do that, why can’t they collect the rubbish every week?”

Ms Mitchell said she had contacted cabinet member for environment Cllr Guney Dogan about her concerns, but he had not responded to her.

Petitions that attract signatures from more than 3,124 residents (1 per cent of the borough’s population) will be debated at full council.

It means councillors could get a vote on whether or not to go ahead with the bin changes.

An Enfield Council spokesperson said the local authority needed to make savings of £18 million in 2019-20 and a further £12 million the following year.

The bin collection shake-up will lead to savings of £7.5 million over five years.

The spokesperson said: “All our services are under pressure due to government cuts and savings the council is being forced to make.

“The changes to our waste and recycling services mean we can to some extent protect front-line services such as adult social care and children’s services.

“The decision to make these changes was not taken lightly and a significant amount of work has been undertaken to make sure the changes are fair and clear.”

The petition is available at: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/bin-the-new-bin-collections