Orihuela Local Police are warning residents in both the city and Orihuela Costa over garden cuttings being left on the road.

The police say that not only will they be stepping up surveillance, they will also be heavily fining those who do not comply with the correct procedure.

In order not to fall foul of the law and receive a fine, you should first contact the municipal waste collection service to advise them you have cuttings for collection.

Then, and only when advised by the department, you can put up to 1 cubic metre of garden waste out for collection, but it must be bagged, except for branches.

If it is commercial waste, such as that created by a gardener employed to tend to your garden, or in the case of an urbanisation, different rules apply for the collection of commercially generated waste, although in the first instance you should still contact the town hall