A Wandsworth council chief has warned that new government proposals to charge households on the amount of rubbish they produce could cost families more than £1,000 a year.

Richard Hobbs, head of waste management at Wandsworth Council, claims families will be hit hard by the new plans which the Labour party has drawn up.

The proposals were revealed last year nationally and outline a pay-as-you-go system for rubbish to boost recycling figures.

According to a national newspaper, Mr Hobbs suggests in a council document that Government advisors may have underestimated the costs of the tax, which will involve fitting dustcarts with weighing equipment, storing data and running a separate billing and accounts system.

The system is officially known as Direct and Variable Charging (DVC).

He told the Daily Mail: "To have any practical effect on recycling levels DVC needs to be based on the amount of residual waste from each property.

"In practice this means giving residents a wheelie bin with a radio tag to identify the user and fitting all refuse equipment with weighing equipment.

"Possibly this would mean DVC charges in the UK of £5 to £20 a week for ecah wheelie bin with a reduction in council tax of £1 a week."

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs denied the cost would be as large as this to families and that it would be more like £2 a week, not £20.