Summer opening hours will come into force across Buckinghamshire rubbish tips next month.

On April 1 closing times at household recycling centres in the county will move from 4pm to 6pm on every day they are open, while opening times will remain at 9am.

Following a decision made by Bucks County Council’s (BCC) cabinet in January, a range of other changes are also going to come into force next month.

Bledlow Ridge recycling centre will close permanently, while the Chesham, Burnham and Aylesbury (Rabans Lane) sites will close every Wednesday and Thursday.

The Burnham site is set to close in September, however this may be deferred if other cost-saving measures are effective.

A charge for the disposal of all non household waste – such as construction and demolition debris- will also be enforced.

Cabinet member for planning and environment at BCC, Bill Chapple, said: “Although none of the Cabinet wanted to make changes to this very popular service, it remains our responsibility to make these hard decisions on how the council can continue to provide the essential services on which many of our more vulnerable people rely.

"The fact is that if we didn't bring in charges for non-household waste I would be looking at permanent closure of further household recycling centres, which is not an option I wanted to take."

"As things are, I'm confident that our household recycling centres will continue to offer an excellent service, and we're trying our best to ensure that the changeover doesn't cause any disruption.

“However, I would ask people to be patient while the changes are implemented and, as always, check the recycling centre webcams on our web pages before setting out at times such as sunny weekends which are likely to be busy."

Find out more about the changes at www.buckscc.gov.uk/hrc