Now you might face a fine for leaving your bin like this

But North East Lincolnshire Council has been criticised by the Government, which said councils should be helping people to recycle, not “bullying” people with threats.

The authority has sent letters to 70,000 households warning that those who fail to put their rubbish in the right bins - including three recycling boxes - face a fixed penalty notice of £60. Requirements include putting bins out by 7am, making sure they are “clearly visible” and rinsing out drink and food cans. The letter says it will closely monitor how rubbish is put out in coming weeks - and may take action against those who “refuse our help and persistently abuse the system.”

A resident from Cleethorpes said: “The way I read it they are going to be dealing out fines right, left and centre for not putting rubbish in the right bin and it is another money spinner for the council.”

However Coun Peter Wheatley said the council had a financial imperative to try and push up recycling rates of just 36.75 per cent. He said: “We have to deliver financial savings and one of the ways of increasing our revenues is increasing the level of recycling. A fine is a very final resort - we wouldn’t be resorting to fining people straight away.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is changing the law to remove the threat of a fine for “simple” mistakes.

Fines would only be issued if the householder was causing “harm to local amenity” by putting out their rubbish in the wrong way.

A spokeswoman said: “People want to do the right thing by recycling more. Councils should be helping them to do this by providing the collection services they need, not by bullying them with threats - which always seemed to be Labour’s tactic. We have cut the level of bin fines councils can use and we are changing the law to remove the threat of a fine for simple mistakes in how people put out their rubbish.”

Andrew Allison, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Sending out letters with veiled and implicit threats is not the way to do it. “Many residents will now worry they are breaking council rules and will fear that Big Brother is watching them.”