Families could find themselves having to pay some £1,000 over the course of a year through Labour’s proposed ‘rubbish tax’, depending on how much waste is in their bins.

According to Richard Hobbs, head of waste management at Wandsworth Council, those who do not manage to recycle a certain amount of their rubbish could face a weekly £20 charge, reports the Mail on Sunday.

Although previous estimates for the scheme, officially known as direct and variable charging (DVC), claimed consumers could face an annual charge of £120 on top of their current council tax bill, Mr Hobbs claims the government is underestimating the project’s cost which could be passed on to consumers, affecting their debt management.

He told the publication: "To have any practical effect on recycling levels, DVC needs to be based on the amount of residual [non-recyclable] waste from each property.

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

However, Kay Twitchen from the Local Government Association said Mr Hobbs’ claims were "ridiculous" and suggested the amount consumers have to pay could vary across the country.

According to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, council tax is to rise by an average of 4.2 per cent next month, with the average bill for a household living in a band D property increasing by £53 to £1,302, a figure which could affect those already struggling with their debt management.

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