“They won’t need to enforce it. Local people are already doing the job for them by dobbing in owners of second-home holiday lets who don’t follow the rules.”

Owners of holiday homes in a Devon town have been warned that they face a £350 fine if paying visitors dispose of domestic rubbish in public litter bins or take it to the dump.

Tom Saunders www.thetimes.co.uk

Property owners in Salcombe, which is the most expensive place in Britain to buy a seaside home, have expressed dismay at a “bin tax” they must pay if they operate a second home as a commercial enterprise.

South Hams council has used a bin-sticker campaign and sent letters to remind owners that they must declare if they are letting their property to holidaymakers.

One second-home owner questioned how the council would know if holidaymakers were breaking the rules.

“It’s absurd. How on earth will they enforce it?” the owner told The Mail on Sunday. “Are council staff going to lurk around litter bins to check the rubbish registration status of someone chucking in a Mars Bar wrapper?

“I’ve owned a place in Salcombe for 20 years and this is the first I’ve heard of it. They just want to wring more money out of people already facing big increases in council tax or business rates.”

Under the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 holiday lets are classified as businesses and therefore disallowed from using local council household bin collections.

South Hams’s letter warns owners that they must pay a commercial rate of £350 a year or arrange private collection. It states: “These properties are not permitted to use the domestic service funded by the taxpayer. This includes . . . recycling banks, litter bins and household recycling centres.”

It has placed stickers on bins marked: “No holiday home waste.”

Permanent residents in Salcombe said that the laws were enforceable.

Pete Ford, 32, a shop manager, said: “They won’t need to enforce it. Local people are already doing the job for them by dobbing in owners of second-home holiday lets who don’t follow the rules.

“I know a couple of places where this has happened. Residents spot renters slipping out with bags of rubbish and report it to the council. Next thing, you see a commercial waste bin appears outside the property.

“Of course, Salcombe needs second homes and visitors who rent them. But these places are being run for profit. Owners should pay to have commercial waste collected, like all businesses.”

Mike Wrigley, 61, a boatbuilder, said: “If you run a business you pay into the system. I see some holiday-home visitors heading on to the street with armfuls of rubbish to dump in litter bins. They don’t want it in their car as they head back up the motorway.”

Richard Toomer, the executive director of Tourism Alliance, said that councils should be careful to avoid penalising second-home owners.

“Holidaymakers are hugely important in many local destinations, including South Hams, and they contribute significantly to the local economy and support jobs.

“Additional costs will undoubtedly be passed on to holidaymakers who are already really feeling the pinch of this cost of living crisis.”

South Hams council said: “Commercial waste produced by a short-term holiday let business should not be disposed of via these methods. Each business must have an arrangement in place to remove the waste and recycling from the property.”