Millions of householders are facing tough new rules on rubbish collection because councils are desperate to improve their recycling rates.

A third of councils in England and Wales surveyed by The Times said that they would not empty bins if the lids were not shut properly. Critics have told the councils that the strict interpretation of the law will cause some homeowners to dump rubbish in neighbours’ bins, but the councils are adamant that the crackdown is necessary.

Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, Harrow and Barnet are among the councils that require lids to be fully closed. Some claim that health and safety concerns are driving the reforms as well as recycling targets.

Geoffrey Theobald, chairman of the environment committee at Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “Everyone has to do their bit to reduce the amount of waste they produce and recycle as much as possible. We provide wheelie bins that are large enough to contain a week’s worth of waste if householders compost their garden waste and use our kerbside recycling service.

“If householders are throwing away recyclable materials and garden waste, one of our officers will talk to them . . . As a last resort those who continue to produce excess waste may face a £75 fine.”

The Government is keen to avoid huge European Union fines for missing recycling targets. If it fails to recycle 40 per cent of the country’s waste by 2010 (the current rate is 31 per cent) the European Court of Justice could impose heavy penalties.

While taxpayers are keen to do their bit for the environment, some believe that the refusal to empty bins with lids ajar is too much. Christine Melsom, of the IsItFair council tax protest group, said: “They can’t just not take the rubbish if the bid lid is a bit open – that’s a ludicrous situation. There are just too many rules and regulations governing our rubbish collections now. The service is becoming very, very complicated. I think people are fed up with it all.”

The Times contacted the 50 largest councils in England and Wales, all London boroughs not included in the 50 and several councils in the North West that have recently implemented policies for overflowing bins – 71 in total. A third said that bin lids must be closed before rubbish collectors will empty them. The survey also found that of the 53 councils that offer wheelie bin collections almost half would not empty bins with raised lids.

Paul Bettison, of the Local Government Association’s environment board, said: “You do want people to recycle more . . . and if you encourage people to leave their lids open then you invite maggots. Plus, if wheelie bin lids are not shut, then they can be chewed up by the automatic lifting device.”

Bolton Council said: “This is a safety measure to protect our staff.”

A spokesman for Cardiff council, which does not collect bins with open lids, said: “These controls should be an incentive for people to recycle more - a 240-litre black bin should be sufficient for most households if they are recycling properly.”

Many councils also refuse to collect “side waste” – sacks of rubbish left next to a wheelie bin. Some said that they treated this as fly-tipping, which is punishable with a fixed fine.

Councils say that one of the major reasons for adopting wheelie bins in the first place was to eliminate cuts, stab wounds and needlestick injuries collectors suffered from overflowing rubbish bags.

The Times revealed in April that thousands of people across the country have been fined for putting out their rubbish on the wrong day and last year it was reported that 40 per cent of binmen had been verbally or physically abused by householders.

Statistics published this week by the Government suggest that recycling is taking hold, with more than 80 per cent of councils collecting less waste than before. They reveal that 94 per cent of authorities recycled and composted more household waste in 2006-07 than in 2005-06, while 83 per cent collected less household rubbish than in 2005-06.

In addition, 88 per cent of authorities used landfill sites for less of their waste in 2006-07 than in 2005-06. The lowest percentage of municipal waste disposed of through landfill was 7 per cent by the London Borough of Greenwich. The highest was the City of London, which disposed of 93 per cent of its waste this way.

South Somerset council collects the lowest amount of household waste – 397lb (180kg) per person – while South Lakeland in Cumbria collects the most at 990lb per person.

North Kesteven in Lincolnshire had the highest percentage of household recycling and composting at 55 per cent, while Tower Hamlets in London was the lowest at 11.8 per cent.

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