HORSLEY tip, also known as Pyke Quarry, in Stroud will be switching to winter opening hours from Sunday and will be closed on Wednesdays.

Winter opening hours are 10am until 4pm.

The site has been open seven days a week since mid-August to meet increased demand, but with the seasonal reductions in use it will revert to being closed on a Wednesday.

The winter opening hours will apply at all Gloucestershire County Council’s Household Recycling Centres (HRCs) from Sunday, but residents will still have nearly 9,000 booking slots available each week across the county.

The switch follows a recent residents survey of over 1,100 people visiting Gloucestershire’s HRCs, which found that 70 per cent of visitors said the booking-in system should be kept when social distancing is no longer needed.

Cllr Nigel Moor, cabinet member responsible for waste and recycling, said, “Our booking system was brought in to aid safety during the pandemic but we’ve had really positive feedback to it and the sites in general. The majority of users say there are less queues and visitors find the booking system helpful. We know that the seasons affect the demand for the centres though and typically demand drops by 25 per cent in the winter months which is why we make this seasonal change.”

"Once the changes happen on Sunday there will be 8,982 booking slots per week available to residents needing to recycle waste which can’t be recycled from their doorstep with local collections. This is a reduction of just over 2,000 slots, however as the evenings get darker and colder and people reduce the amount of DIY/gardening, less people visit HRC’s”.

Visitors to all household recycling centres need to pre-book their visit.

Social distancing is required on site, and to minimise queues and waiting times the number of booking slots available is limited.

Those with symptoms of Covid-19 or who are self-isolating must not visit and should stay at home, and follow the most up to date government and NHS advice.

You can find out about HRCs and book a time slot online at https://www.gloucestershirerecycles.com/household-recycling-centres-hrcs/car-and-van-bookings-for-hrc-visits/