A row has broken out after a councillor sent a 40-tonne truck to pick up one sack of garden waste.

As pressure mounts over Sutton Council's controversial new garden waste charges, the move has sparked a bitter feud between two opposing councillors.

Earlier this month, the Liberal Democrat-controlled council began charging residents an annual fee of £35 for each green waste collection bag.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Paddy Kane, who chairs the council's sustainable communities scrutiny community - which analyses the way ratepayers' money is spent - has taken aim at Conservative Councillor Cliff Carter.

He said he believed Coun Carter had acted in an "aggressive" and "insane" manner after a resident in Sutton North ward did not have their waste collected recently.

Coun Kane said: "Yes, the bag should have been collected by the council, but Coun Carter was out of line in the way he handled the complaint.

"I've been told by workers at the Kimpton waste centre that he called them up and abusively insisted they send someone out to collect the bag immediately."

He said what made matters worse was the only vehicle available to collect the bag was a 40-tonne lorry.

"He insisted the centre send out the huge truck to collect a 1kg bag of grass cuttings -- and that it was a justified council expense," Councillor Kane said.

"I don't know why he didn't wait until Monday when a dust vehicle could have picked it up on the way.

"Instead, we're paying for the mileage and petrol for a 40-tonne vehicle.

"It's grossly over the top - it's like hiring a bus to pick your mum up from Gatwick instead of using a car."

But Coun Carter denied Coun Kane's accusations.

He said: "The whole garden waste scheme is an absolute disgrace , not to mention a rip-off.

"Very few people have taken it up and one of the very few that actually bought the bag was let down."

He said he was forced to take action when the resident said the council had not returned two of their phone calls.

"Look, that's my job, I look after my constituents 100 per cent and I asked Kimpton staff to do something about it. At no point was I aggressive and staff offered to collect it for me."

A Sutton Council spokesman confirmed Coun Carter had requested the lorry collect the bag.