Wolverhampton City Council is to temporarily extend the opening hours of its 2 tips at weekends.

The decision, which takes effect from tomorrow, is a response to recent heavy usage of the sites at Anchor Lane, in Lanesfield and Shaw Road, in Bushbury.

Both household waste and recycling centres will extend their opening hours by 2 hours on Saturdays and Sundays meaning they will close at 6pm instead of 4pm.

It is thought that the combination of unseasonably warm weather, school half term and bank holiday has contributed to more people than usual wanting to use the facilities.

This has led to lengthy queues on some days and complaints about traffic problems in neighbouring streets.

The extended opening hours will run until 31 May and a decision will then be taken as to whether the move should be made permanent or not.

Chris Huddart, the city council's head of commercial services, said: "We are aware that there have been some issues on certain days due to the spike in demand caused by the recent warm weather and holidays. People often get out in their gardens or start doing DIY and create waste which they want to take to the tip.

"We are introducing these extended opening hours at weekends on a temporary basis until the end of May to see if it helps alleviate the queue problems. We will review usage during this time."

Wolverhampton City Council is one of few urban local authorities to offer 2 tips. The location of the tip in Anchor Lane, which is close to the border with Dudley Council, means the facility is especially busy as people from outside of Wolverhampton also use it.

Anchor Lane is open on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 4pm. Shaw Road is open Monday to Wednesday from 10am to 4pm. Both sites are open at weekends from 10am to 6pm.

  • released: Friday 24 April, 2015