An authority has been fined a six-figure sum over residents not putting their rubbish into the right bins.

A finance report covering Coventry City Council's expenditure for the three months leading to the end of September said there was a £1.5m overspend by the city services department.

According to the report, £900,000 of that overspend was related to contamination fines from non-recyclable waste being put into recycling bins.

Conservative group leader councillor Gary Ridley asked the cabinet meeting what is to be done about what he described as "an absolutely enormous figure".

Mark Adams, the council's acting director of city services, explained that the cost of the fines were high because the council has been charged twice.

He said: "If anything is contaminated, it has to be turned away so it is a double charge – we are charged for taking it in and then we are charged for taking it away to another specialist tip that can take the type of waste."

Mr Adams said that the penalties are part of the council's contract with Sherborne Recycling facility which have only come into effect since April.

Councillor Patricia Hetherton, the portfolio holder for city services, said the council are trying to tackle the issue by educating residents about what they can put in their bins.

She said: "It is about education and about making sure that people do understand and know what they can and can't put in their bins.

"We are doing a comms activity with pictures rather than words.

"For instance, at Christmas it is about letting people know that they cannot put anything with glitter on in for recycling.

"It is really important how we manage our waste because it is costing us if the waste is contaminated."