Plea to pre-sort waste as tips expect busy weekend

Tip users are being urged to pre-sort their waste as recycling centres prepare for a busy bank holiday weekend.

West Northamptonshire Council say a record number of people have visited its recycling centre following the introduction of seven-day opening.

Some residents have told BBC Radio Northampton they have been turned away from busy recycling sites since the new hours were brought in.

New parking arrangements have now been introduced at some of the sites "to improve safety".

All six of West Northamptonshire's recycling centres started opening every day of the week at the beginning of April.

Previously, five of them had closed on at least two days each week.

The council said the change would make it "easier than ever for people to dispose of their waste responsibly".

But some residents have told BBC Radio Northampton and reported on social media that long queues of cars have developed at the sites - with some closed due to the volume of visitors.

One man said he had been to Daventry's tip four times in two weeks and had only managed to get on to the site once.

Another demanded a refund of council tax because the tip was "not resourced properly and they are not providing the service we pay for".

The queues are said to be particularly long on days when the football team - that shares Browns Road in Daventry with the recycling centre - are playing at home.

Some users who have driven to the Sixfields site in Northampton have been told to use the Ecton centre instead because of demand.

A council spokesperson said: "Temporary closures occur when queues impact nearby roads, a standard practice to ensure traffic flows safely."

The spokesperson added that the council's centres had seen more than 67,000 visits during April, which it described as a 20% increase.

The authority urged residents to pre-sort waste before arriving at the sites, to familiarise themselves with new parking arrangements and avoid blocking the highway - as well as make use of all six sites across the county.

Parallel parking at Sixfields, Ecton and Towcester has been replaced by marked bays "to reduce the distance between cars and containers to improve safety".

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