Councils to tell gardeners what they can grow

Town hall bureaucrats could soon dictate what homeowners grow in their gardens.

The extraordinary new rule is among a string of ideas put forward in a government-commissioned report to step up Britain's battle against household waste.

Restrictions on fast-growing plants, trees and flowers could be brought in by "including gardens in building regulations," it said.

Shadow local government minister Bob Neill, MP for Bromley and Chislehurst, said: "Are they really expecting hardworking people to go along to the council to get building regulation consent to plant their rhododendron?"

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has pushed the measure but Downing Street has sought to kick it into the long grass.

The research for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs identified 52 measures, including a ban or tax for junk mail, forcing companies to offer longer warranties for products to stop them being thrown away, and restrictions on the advertising of wasteful products.