People have received fines from waste companies for as little as having a teabag or a couple of biscuits in their green bin.

Greyhound have issued €30 euro fines to customers in Dublin, and warned their bins will be removed if contamination continues.

A number of households in Dublin have received fines - one for having a teabag in the green bin, another for having a number of Toffeepop biscuits in there.

Nicola McHugh from Ballyfermot says she didn't put them there - but is being asked to pay.

Nicola McHugh says she got a €30 fine because kids put Toffeepop biscuits in her recycling bin while she left it on the road pic.twitter.com/HeK9bVrdHH

— Sean Defoe (@SeanDefoe) July 13, 2017

She said the company claimed to have video evidence of the biscuits in the bin, but she insists that "the kids are using the bins constantly" and that "anyone can put anything in anyone's bins when their outside".

People Before Profit say it's an example of waste companies acting like cartels and the government are letting them rob people blind.

Dublin City Councillor John Lyons saying people can't watch their bins all day, while TD Brid Smith says there needs to be a bit of give.

Deputy Smith argued that some contamination must be allowed "because otherwise you don't allow for the human error stuff".

Waste company Greyhound, however, says no one is fined for having a single teabag in their green bins.

Greyhound says for every 100 tonnes of recycling waste 40% is poo-covered nappies, rotten food or garden waste.

The company says: "Only bins that are consistently heavy over a long period are selected for monitoring. The householder is then informed in writing that their green bin is being monitored and are provided with ample time to change the way they segregate their waste.

"When their bins are checked and are found to be contaminated, pictures are taken and a surcharge is issued. The householder is then given 14 days to appeal."

The company shared a photo of a contaminated green bin: