NEARLY 700 people in Ashburton and Buckfastleigh have signed a petition demanding that Teignbridge Council's £35 'garden tax' should be scrapped.

Ashburton's former mayor Cllr John Nutley, who has spearheaded local opposition to the proposal, announced this week: 'The best place to put this charge is in the bin.'

The serving town councillor dismissed claims that the imposition of the new optional charge would not escalate incidents of fly-tipping.