Families who overfill rubbish bins are to face bigger fines than those imposed on drunks or shoplifters, the government has told local authorities.

New guidance instructs councils to impose fixed penalties of “not less than £75” and up to £110 in what the opposition has attacked as a “new stealth tax”.

The offences for which householders can be fined include leaving ajar the lid of a wheelie bin, putting out a bin the evening before collection or leaving the bin in the wrong place.

Although the government has previously claimed that it leaves local councils to decide on the level of fines, the Fly-capture Enforcement manual, produced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, stipulates that fixed penalties for offencesinvolving “waste receptacles” must range from £75 to £110.

It suggests a standard fixed penalty of £100, adding that “if a notice is not paid, it is essential it is followed up”. The penalties are higher than the £80 on-the-spot fines levied by police for offences ranging from being drunk and disorderly to shoplifting.

Local councils have been sharply criticised for taking harsh measures against trivial misdemeanours.

Earlier this year, Gareth Corkhill, a Cardiff bus driver, was given a criminal conviction after being taken to court when he refused to hand over a £110 on-the-spot fine by council inspectors who found the lid of his wheelie bin open by 4in.

Eric Pickles MP, the shadow local government secretary, said Labour was creating “an army of municipal bin bullies hitting law-abiding families with massive fines while professional criminals get the soft touch”.

He added: “It is clear Whitehall bureaucrats are instructing town halls to target householders with fines for minor breaches.

“Yet with the slow death of weekly collections and shrinking bins, it is increasingly hard for families to dispose of their rubbish responsibly. It is fundamentally unfair that householders are now getting hammered with larger fines than shoplifters get for stealing.”

The environment department, headed by Hilary Benn, said on-the-spot fines were “intended to be an alternative to prosecution”. A spokesman said: “Local authorities wanted flexible fines that they can relate to the severity and frequency of the offence and offender. Ultimately the fines are there to act as a deterrent.”

According to Phil Woolas, the environment minister, local councils face extra costs of £3.2 billion over the next five years to fund recycling measures, which would equate to a £150 council tax increase.

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