After being away for a week and missing my changed refuse collection date I had one bag too many of garden waste.

The operator was about to put it on the cart but was told not to by the team leader. Apparently it is against the policy of CityClean to remove more than one bag of garden waste a week now that we have been changed to wheelie bins for household refuse.

There appears to be no room to manoeuvre on this, even though at certain times of the year, spring and autumn, there is a peak when gardens are being prepared for the respective season.

Then the only way to remove the small amount of additional garden refuse is to either pay extra for a special collection if you do not own a car and rely on public transport or use your car to make additional trips to the nearest tip.

Brighton and Hove City Council exhorts us to make fewer trips in our cars but then brings in refuse policies that require us to use our cars as refuse trucks.

The type of garden waste I produce - grass and hedge cuttings - is not the composting type and, anyway, now my garden is low maintenance and I have replaced my borders with pebbles and tubs, I have nowhere to use compost even if I could.

I'm sorry but gardens just don't conform to bureaucratic edicts. I would suggest the particular officer responsible for this absurd rule doesn't have a garden.

It is galling that after paying for one of the most expensive refuse collection services in England we are told precisely how much they will remove from your premises - and no more.

-Peter Usher, Saltdean